Void Soul
by Atrevici
Summary: The first time he saw her, he noticed her lips; it was like an artisan had used the sultry pink color on his palette and painted them in two gently enticing strokes, tapering at the beginning and the end. His beginning and his end. Natsu x OC.
1. Possessed

**Hello (: welcome to my first f-fic, rated T just to be safe. If you like action, romance, depth and a little bit of humor, then this story's for you (: if you want to, let me know what you do/don't like so I can make the story more enjoyable for all, and if you like what you see, follow the story to stay up to date and give me encouragement to keep going ;D Now, on to the story:**

 **XXX**

 **VOID SOUL: POSSESSED**

 **XXX**

"Dad! _"_ startled birds flew from their perch's as her voice rang through the trees. She muttered jumbled words under her breath, some foreign, some familiar, both odd to the lips; the forest created a path for her. She trudged onward, her little brother on her back and clinging to her neck, she needed to focus, it was getting darker, and she wasn't any closer.

"Dad!" she waited, but no one responded. She ran as best she could, winding deeper into the forest. Branches whipped past her, stinging her cheeks. She could feel the heavy weight of fear spreading through her body.

"Daddy!" William screeched.

She crashed through the brush into a clearing. He stood there, silhouetted in red, drawing symbols in the dirt with a stick. The moon shone off his black hair, she saw the sweat on the back of his neck. His knees were trembling, his breath shaky at best. Stepping closer, she reached out a tentative hand, her brow creased. Upon her touch he flinched away, turning on her with wild eyes.

"Auralie, William," he gasped, throwing down his stick. She looked around them and saw strange, archaic markings where they stood etched into the ground. She looked up at her father and took a step back.

"Y-your shirt" her stomach churned, he was wrapped in blood, it ticked onto the ground as it dripped from his fingertips. Her eyes darted to the large stone behind him, where a misshapen Vulcan slumped, chained and slaughtered.

He looked at her with vacant eyes and began to wring his wrists. She backed away, taking William off her back and holding him tighter to her. They looked at him inquisitively, afraid.

"What happened?" her voice trembled. He stood there, searching for answers. The wind whistled through the trees around them. She tried again, "Dad?" she thought he was about to speak, but the muscles of his neck strained. The man she knew crumbled as his knees hit the ground.

"I-" a sob caught in his throat, "It's…too…late"

"Dad?"

"...she's dead" he whispered.

"What?" said Auralie, William hid in her shoulder.

"Awwa," he whispered, "Daddy's scary," she put her hand on his head, running her fingers through his hair reassuringly.

"Who's dead?" said Auralie.

"Y-your mother . . ." tears caught in his throat, he turned away from her gaze like it was poison.

"No. . ." she said, William started to shake.

"Awwa I'm scared,"

"That's not… she's not supposed to be back from the mountains for another week, how can you be sure?"

"No trace of her, foul Vulcans… But I'll fix it, I swear," her attention was brought again to the giant slaughtered monkey. Her father turned around, back to his archaic drawings and slit his hands. She saw now that the Vulcan was at their center.

"Dad… No!"

William started to scream, choking her with his little arms. She held him tightly in front of her, turning away from their father as his hands slammed to the ground, completing the ritual. The markings exploded. The first wave knocked them against a large stone. Her back hit the ground with a thud, William stopped screaming. Another blast came, throwing their heads back, she closed her eyes fiercely. Her father's screams bled through the explosions. She fought the waves that pummeled them and turned to see the Vulcan was partially consumed. Her father cried out in agony again, louder, she saw the flesh begin to rip from his body. She looked from William, terrified and weak, back to her father. What had he done?

Hooking William with her left arm, she began to crawl. She had to get behind the rock and use it as a shield against the blasts. But as soon as she'd passed it another wave flung her back into a tree, knocking the wind out of her lungs. William whimpered and tried to hide in her arms. But another wave was coming, and with a sheer force of will she rolled the both of them sideways into safety. She winced as she heard her father's cries, he sounded less human by the minute.

"William," she said, sidling up to the rock, "William!" he stared at her, in shock and teary eyed, "You stay right here ok? This rock will protect you. Do you understand?" he shook his head no, "Listen to me," she said desperately, "Stay right here. Everything will be ok if you just stay here. I have to go save Daddy," he shook his head fiercely.

"I w-wanna go home Awwa," he wiped his eyes, crying into his tiny fists. She thought about it, about leaving.

She kissed William on the forehead, "We will sweetheart, but I need you to promise me you'll stay here until I get back, can you do that?"

"You pwomise we can go home?"

"Promise," she said, he brought up his pinky finger, and she hooked her pinky with his.

"Kiss on it?" he said.

"Of course," she kissed his forehead and sat him down, "Now stay here,"

She crawled on her knees to the edge of the rock. She had to destroy the markings to break the ritual.

1… 2… 3… she shot into the clearing, lunging out with her hands towards the markings. She stared, puzzled for a second, why hadn't she hit the ground? Moving upwards, she realized an entity had her in its grasp, she couldn't move. ' _Well, what do we have here?'_ A rumbling voice whispered in her mind, _let me go!_ She thought furiously. She looked around frantically, the rest of her body paralyzed, and saw her father, his arm destroyed, and the Vulcan was gone. ' _I don't think so, don't you want to see your mummy again?'_ she felt pricks all over her body, like she was being stuck with needles. She tried to move, and felt her insides light on fire. She shut her eyes, screaming in agony and felt herself being pulled towards the center of the circle.

"Awwa?"

 _No._

Everything went dark. She saw a flash of brown, a glimpse of pink, and then; it all stopped.

XXX

She awoke within an empty darkness, not being able to tell which way was up, or down. She thought she heard faint echoes, but it turned out to be her paranoid subconscious. Cold started to nip at her toes so she drew them closer to herself. She felt so alone, waiting for something terrible to happen.

Here and there, she swore she saw spots of light, but they always disappeared. She trembled, was there no way out? Was she doomed to live in darkness for the eternities? How long till she went insane? What about William or dad? What about mom?

Her face crumpled as her insides collapsed and everything she had left was taken away by a black wind. Her breath slowed to a stop while the lonely silence screamed and ripped at her mind, raking down her spine and twisting into her gut.

The world she knew had exploded, hanging intricately before her as she felt it burn. Was anything left?

 **XXX**

 **First chapter, it's a little gruesome, I know, but I hope you enjoyed :3**

 **Peace out! *throws up peace sign***


	2. Out of the Dark

**Hey guys (: thank you SO MUCH for reading! And a special thank you to Jalis for being the first person to ever give me feedback! I really do appreciate it (: also, another thank you to Jalis, devourednightmares and Energy Dragon Slayer for being the firsts to follow this story, I WON'T LET YOU DOWN ;D**

 **Enjoy (x**

 **XXX**

 **VOID SOUL: OUT OF THE DARK**

 **XXX**

Auralie awoke again, but somewhere that felt more... hopeful. Looking around her, she saw a field that lit up as the moon and stars appeared from behind the clouds. A cool breeze rippled through the dark green grass like the wind on the waves of the sea. Sprinkled across the large field, patches of white carnations marked where loved ones were buried. The darkness gave the grass a deeper tone, turning the luminescent flowers into ghosts floating in the glow of the moon.

She lay there on the grass, not thinking, not moving, as though she were one of the buried, _maybe I'm dead_ , she thought. She let the grass tickle her neck and legs as the wind continued to shift, not bothering to push back the long, dark brown hair that flew into her golden eyes.

All that mattered was the sky, as long as she stared at it, everything would stay as it was, and how she needed things to stay as they were.

It was strange here; it was always night time, and sometimes when the winds came they whispered to her. There was no hunger here either; her body seemed to maintain a constant state of equilibrium. Though it would ache from time to time, with some sort of burning sensation. All she moved were her eyes and the occasional slight shift of the hands or feet.

At some point in time, she saw a tree grow above her as the ground started to leave beneath her. Slowly, her body lifted into the air. Confused, but curious, she allowed herself to be moved by this invisible force. But something wasn't right, her back felt tied down.

Sinewy snaps sounded in her ears as her body continued to pull away from the ground. She winced at each snap, feeling something disconnect from her skin, preemptively expecting pain. Her father's cries played over and over in her mind, reminding her of the flesh she saw being ripped from his arm. She shuddered and shook her head, trying to forget.

Once she was about 3 feet off the ground, her body started to turn, and she saw where she'd previously lain. There were roots, broken and upended from the earth. _What the…?_ She thought, and felt her back for any more, but to her surprise, her back was smooth and without any noticeable tearing or holes.

Her eyes shifted to the tree before her. She gasped, seeing that it had grown directly behind a tombstone. _Her_ tombstone, in front of which she had unknowingly laid. A gentle sob nuzzled in her throat. If she was here… where was…

A tiny grave lay next to hers. Despite its small size, his tombstone seemed as big as a mountain. She quaked in its shadow.

"This can't be real. . ." she whispered. She floated towards William's grave wishing to see that there was some mistake. But his name was there, etched in gold;

William Devaunt

X777-X780

She reached out to him, but something struck her hand, wrapping around her wrist. She saw it was a root coming from her grave.

"Let me go!" she cried desperately, clawing at it. One, then two more roots shot at her, wrapping around her waist and leg, "William!" she screamed reaching out to someone she hoped wasn't truly there, "William, please, no!" she sobbed, fighting harder. The roots clutched her feet and legs, pulling her back before her own tombstone, keeping their grips on her until she showed no signs of leaving.

Her shoulders caved inwards, and her head sunk low, she would prefer the darkness of that hell over this. Tears fell at her feet as her chest contracted uncontrollably. She shut her eyes, and hugged her knees as she slumped against the cold, dead rock next to her.

"I told you to stay put," she sobbed, ". . . No!" her fist pounded on the tombstone. She writhed in self-loathing, in her mind's eye she saw her little brother trying to come to her… for protection. "No!" she hit the tombstone again, biting her lip, this couldn't be real, "No! No! No! No! No!" she fought.

Days or millennia's later, Auralie lay in her own patch of death, resigned to an eternal numbness. She stared at the tree above her, why was it there anyways? There were no trees at the other graves. Slowly, she pushed to her elbows, but something caught her eye. Her tombstone read

 _Auralie Devaunt_

 _X763-X780_

And then down near the bottom;

 _Get Off Your Arse_

"Huh?" she stood up, still staring at the words. She looked around her, William's grave was gone, and so were all the other ones, the fields were plain as far as the eye could see. Then, rather suddenly, the tree behind her stone started to glow, its ethereal structure a delicate gold. She walked towards it, curiously. Before her eyes, the tree exposed one of its hollows, where a golden key lay inside. Auralie took one step back, unsure of this strange event, and yet she watched, amazed as the key came out and floated in the space between them. She stared at it for quite some time as it floated there, waiting for her to do something.

She looked around her, suspicious of a trick. Slowly, she reached out her hand, as if she was beckoning the key to come to her. And come it did. No sooner as she extended the invitation than the key charged forwards into her chest, throwing her back and up.

She began to ascend, chest towards the sky, as her core began to glow. It felt as if her body disassembled and was refurbished from the inside out, what was this power? She moved her head to the side and saw the ground was far below her now.

As the ground left, the sky came towards her. The closer it came, the dimmer the moon and stars shone, until everything was black and she was all alone. She closed her eyes, not that it made a difference, and wished again for something more than darkness.

XXX

The noise of running water and chirping birds flooded her ears. She opened her crusted eyes slowly as they took in the light around her. She breathed in deeply, pushing up to her elbows and looked at her surroundings. Upon her there were white sheets that smelled of fresh linen, to the left there was a large window surrounded by wooden walls, and to the right…

Her father.

 **XXX**

 **This chapter was a little more abstract, but I hope still enjoyable (:**

 **Atrevici, out! *throws peace sign***


	3. Run

**Good morning! I hope today's going to be a good day for everyone (: anyways, I can't wait till you guys read this chapter, it was fun writing the action scenes :3 and I can't wait to see if you like it! Enjoy!**

 **XXX**

 **VOID SOUL: RUN**

 **XXX**

Next to her bed there stood a side table, where a half-full glass of water sat poised upon a doily. The wood was stressed and worn quite like the rest of the room. Moon light filtered in through the window and shone upon where her father sat, slumped in a chair, one arm missing. She sat up completely, glaring at him. Her movement must have startled him awake.

"Auralie... you're alive!" he moved to hug her. She pulled back and didn't speak, a weighted silence added to the gravity in the room.

"Are you insane?" she snapped. Her father stumbled for words, but she cut him off, "What have you done?"

"Aura, please you have to understand..." he reached for her hand, but again, she flinched away.

"Understand what," she loved her father, but his actions were beyond her. If he hadn't written that alchemy circle they could've gotten through mom's death together, but now they were only shadows of who they used to be and one less.

"I was just trying to..." he paused, holding back tears, "bring your mother back to life," his voice disjointed into two very distinctly separate voices, one deeper than his own.

"Pardon?"

"I was trying to…" there it was again, the second voice. Her father coughed and hit his chest, trying to clear his throat, "I just wanted to see her again," he hung his head low. From the side Aura saw his cheeks pull back, a chill ran down her spine.

"W-where is William," she stammered, inching away as discretely as possible. Her father shook his head, which hung even lower. His chest started to convulse and his shoulders shook. Aura gripped the blanket that covered her, bidding back tears.

"Do you wish you could bring them back?"

She sniffled, "Huh?"

"Do you wish you could bring them back?"

"Of course I do but…"

"But what? Are you telling me you wouldn't do just about anything to get them back?"

"I would, but…"

"But what," there it was again. He stood from his chair, his face still hung low and she shrunk to the corner of her bed.

"What you did killed William! Don't you see that? Mom wouldn't—"

"I know, I know," he interrupted, "There hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't thought of them," he paused, flexing his hand, "But that's not going to stop me from trying again,"

"Don't you remember what she said?"

"Of course I do,"

"Then you know why I'm not doing that," she said.

"Then you don't really love them," he hissed, "Are you with me or not,"

"..."

"Are you WITH me or NOT," that wasn't her father's voice. She threw off her blankets, getting off the bed as quickly as possible. Her father grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. They both screamed, she ripped her hand away as they held their wrist and hand respectively. It throbbed, a dark scorch mark appeared where he'd grabbed her. Shaking it off, he advanced towards her again.

"Don't you love them?" he yelled in anger.

"Shut up!" she yelled and took the glass from the side table, she raised it threateningly above her head. It started to laugh.

"Oh, what do we have here?" he purred. That voice…

"You," she whispered.

"Yes, me,"

"Where's—"

"Gone, all gone," it smiled, sauntering towards her.

"Stay back!" she warned.

"Well, I did try things the easy way," it said, "But I never was known for my patience," its voice grumbled, dripping in darkness. She backed away. The cup shaking in her hands, her trembling composure made it difficult as she aimed at it's head. She acted fast, throwing it with a dexterity she hoped would land her target. The cup spun through the air, in a perfect arch. It easily sidestepped, the splatter of glass and water lay pathetically behind it.

"Missed me," it's eyes glowed, stepping towards her.

"Wait!" she cried as it closed in, the wall trapped her body from receding any further, it reached out, grabbing her by the neck, "Get off!" she pleaded as she was dragged and lifted by the neck. She shrieked as her neck burned. Her vision blurred as her head snapped against the wall when it shook her. Her lungs burned as they expended more energy to try and get what little oxygen they could. Her eyes rolled back and her mouth gaped as she desperately clawed at anything within range.

It dragged her across the wall, then threw her at the bed. Aura's body staggered back as her feet connected to the ground too soon, she fell over the bed and onto the floor. Her body recoiled into a fetal position as she grasped her head, desperately trying to clear it. She could see that she was closer to the door now than it was, but the pulsing booms that shook her mind and singed lungs blurred her vision as she lost focus.

Am I going to die here?

She wouldn't grant it the satisfaction.

An unfeasible strength took over her body, the burning stopped and her head cleared, the shadows receded to their corners. She looked up to see a disgusting hand reaching towards her, attached to a darkly clouded body. Its eyes shone red and its shadow nearly swallowed her in its depth. She bolted up, clambering away.

"Why do you even exist… useless. Give it to me," It was her father's slurred voice, it was her father's body. This thing that she saw, this disgusting, horrific thing that she saw, was not her father.

She revolted in terror. Her wide eyes darted from the looming figure above her, to the door. Her heart pounded in her chest as she swallowed back the fear that built up in her stomach. He lunged forwards, she rolled to the side, scampering to her feet. The door was within her reach, but she ran off balance, crashing into the door frame and nearly catapulting down the stairs.

Steps flew beneath her feet, but it wasn't long before she heard another pair crashing down after her. She turned and saw him, crying out in fear, as she tripped and fell down the rest of the stairs. He was nearly upon her. She outstretched her hand, her fingers extended, the front door was within her reach.

"Ahhh!" her hand recoiled as she looked to see her father, screaming, an unholy black flame engulfing his one hand. He had jumped mid-stair, his eyes ablaze, fist cocked back to his jaw. Her heart dropped to her stomach.

She threw her arms across her face, bracing against the wall. His feet struck the ground like an anvil, cracking the wood. His arm shot towards her and a knowing feeling sunk into her bones. She squeezed her eyes shut. This was it.

As his fist connected she heard a crack and a bright light immersed her, her skin tingled with the sensation. She felt herself grow light, as a warmth spread all the way down to her toes. She felt it in her heart, comforting and strong. But soon it faded, she opened her eyes to see the glow was leaving her hands. What was that?

On her knees, she took in her surroundings. The floorboards broken and upended, her father was halfway submerged in the staircase surrounded by splintered wood. He wasn't moving. Scared and timid, she stood up, wandering closer.

"Dad?" she whispered. His eyes fluttered at the sound of her voice.

"Grrrnghh," he mumbled. She drew even closer, her hear rate rising.

"Dad," she poked him. His eyes flew open, terrified. He looked at her and saw her wrist and neck had been burnt badly. A single tear lilted down his cheek.

"My baby," a sob gently escaped from his lips.

"Is it really you?" something bittersweet pricked at the corners of her eyes. He shook his head no, but she knew better.

"Dad!" she ran to hug him.

"No," he said, she stopped in her tracks.

"But you—"

"Run,"

"What?"

"Run," he spoke fervently as his face began to morph, a wicked grin cracked it's way into the corners of his cheeks. Aura backed away, one hand on the doorknob, she couldn't leave, not now that she knew he was in there, somewhere.

"Get out," he said. She heard his voice warping again and knew it was coming, "You see that?" he gestured at a black hooded cloak mom used to wear, she nodded, "Take it, and go," she shook her head no. She knew she had to but…

"Run," she stayed, "RUN!" black flames exploded from his arm. She needed no more encouragement.

She grabbed the cloak and turned back one last time, mouthing the words 'I love you', before running out the door and slamming it behind her. She'd only gotten fifty paces when the house started groaning from the heat of the flames that shot out in different places. Run.

XXX

Every stride made her legs tauter, with each step her muscles screamed in refusal. But she was almost there. After fifteen miles, Oshibana train station had finally come into view. She looked around warily, pulling her hood up to hide her face. The sun had risen in the East, but it was early, so few people were bustling about. Auralie weighed the jewels she found in the cloak in her hand and took them out. She only had 2,400 Jewels, barley enough for a one way ticket.

Her stomach rumbled. Food or transportation? She weighed the options in her mind. Begrudgingly, she walked up to the counter and bought a one way ticket to Magnolia. It was the farthest she could go with what she had. Only 300 jewels left.

She waited, strength waning, in the train station. The large clock chimed six times as the train pulled in. On its way down she saw that it was mostly empty save for the few who boarded at Clover Town. As the doors opened, she boarded and found her seat. The smell of warm wood drifted into her senses. Her surroundings grew darker as she slumped over, the sound of the engine slowly muffled until she was enveloped in complete silence.

Two stops later, a loud horn startled her awake. Discombobulated, she wiped the sleep from her eyes and peered out the window, for a moment she forgot all that troubled her. The city of Magnolia was so vivacious. It was much different from her little secluded town near the mountain. She shuddered.

Her mind suddenly turned to a more immediate problem as her stomach threw a fit, earning her more than a few peculiar glances. She removed her hood and smiled apologetically, quickly making her way off the train.

She stepped out onto the cobbled streets, intrigued by the atmosphere. But the gravity of her situation still weighed heavy in her bones. She walked down the streets, looking for a street vendor that might offer a cheap bite to eat. Multiple times, she had to stop and hold her head. Her vision would start to go dark and every time her stomach whined she felt like she'd faint.

The day passed in this uncomfortable haze. She had no money left and became familiar with the idea that she would be spending the night outside in the chilly, pre-winter air. The moon had risen above the city, casting shadows from the rooftops. She began to feel uneasy, as if every shadow held an enemy; or worse, her father. With so many people in the city, she felt exposed and sook seclusion.

She passed a large tavern-like building on her way to the outskirts of town and found a quaint bridge to take shelter underneath. She looked over to the woods in the distance and shuddered. Sinking to a sitting position in the mud, she took out her prize for the day. In her hands she held the loaf of bread she bought from a cheap bakery earlier that day. Settling down for the night, she devoured her meal. The night was cold and rainy, but she soon fell asleep, numb to the circumstances around her.

XXX

"Aye, Natsu! Wasn't that fish delicious?!" Happy flew through the air in loops, his mouth watered at the thought of such perfect food.

"You bet it was!" Natsu smirked.

"Aye!" Happy smiled contently. He flew higher and higher, he felt like he was on top of the world! "Aye, Natsu,"

"Yea?"

"What if there—" he said as he looped lower to the ground, they were nearly home, "—was a TROLL UNDER THE BRIDGE!"

"Hah! I suppose I'd defeat it!"

"N-no really! There's a troll!" he flew behind Natsu's shoulder, "Save me!" He wailed, "I don't wanna be eaten! I'm too good!"

Natsu's interest was piqued. He jumped down the hill at the side of the bridge and saw a black lump. Whatever it was, it smelled. He looked over his shoulders, finding the biggest stick around and poked it. It didn't move.

"Hey!" he shouted, continuing to poke it harder. It still didn't move, "HEYY!" he shouted once more. It… it moved!

"Ahh!" Happy screamed and backed away, "This is it! It's gonna eat me!"

"Shh!" Natsu hushed Happy. They both watched with big eyes as it pulled the black cloth down from its head. It groaned, sitting up.

"Ee—!" Natsu clapped a hand over Happy's mouth and stared intently at the dark form, it wasn't bright enough to see anything. He had to get closer, he lit his fist aflame as he jumped right in front of it, "Gotcha!"

She screamed and backed away against the bridge wall. As his eyes came into focus on the figure before him his breath hitched, it was her… her hair was messy, her choppy bangs skirted her deep and lustrous eyes, which were rimmed with eyelashes thick and dark. Her golden eyes fell on him, reflecting the delicate glow of his flames. Her mouth was slightly parted, as if there was something she wanted to say.

He stood rooted to his spot, he could tell the rainy night hadn't treated her well. She looked frozen and her lips had become blue and chapped; as if she heard his thoughts, she licked her lips.

"W-who are you?" her voice was scratchy, she coughed trying to clear her throat, pulling her cloak closer around her shoulders. He noticed her jaw tremble, "What do you want?"

"Name's Natsu," I suppose she wouldn't remember, he thought, scratching the back of his head, "You are?"

"Auralie,"

"Natsu," Happy raised his hand matter-of-factly, "I don't know about this. She seems crazy, the look in her eyes says she wants to eat our souls,"

"Huh?" she said, standing up with great difficulty.

"Wah! Save me Natsu!" Happy cried.

"Relax Happy, she doesn't look dangerous at all!" the cat clung to his face, out of the corner of his eye he saw the girl start to back away, but she didn't seem too well, "Happy! Gert Offgrremmee!" his voice was muffled by the blue cat. Natsu finally threw Happy off of him and into the bridge, his back hit the wall with a loud thud.

"Jeeze, I didn't now you'd gained so much weight Happy,"

"I-I didn't! Oh, it must be the fish!" Happy seemed pleased with this reason, "What's wrong with Floraly?"

"Eh? Oh no…"

"She must be super tired. Come on Natsu let's let her sleep,"

"You think she's just tired?" Natsu scratched the back of his head, a little worried about the perceptiveness of his friend. He walked over to her, turning her onto her back. A deep scarlet line flowed from her nose to her chin, "We'd better take you home," he mumbled.

Would they always meet like this?

 **XXX**


	4. It's a Process

**XXX**

 **VOID SOUL: IT'S A PROCESS**

 **XXX**

So comfy… she snuggled the comforter and pulled it tighter around her. Her arm wrapped around a warm, fuzzy bundle that started to purr. She opened one eye lazily and saw a blue cat in her arms. Surprised, she jumped ever so slightly. She'd tried to contain herself so as not to wake the cat up, but to no avail.

"Ah, gomen'nasai neko. You scared me," she whispered and pet his back soothingly. She closed her eyes and started to drift back to sleep, she was having the most wonderful dream.

"It's ok!" both of her eyes opened as he looked down at the tiny cat.

"N-neko?"

"What?"

"You can speak?"

"Aye!" he smiled as his tail swished back and forth.

"Uh…"

"I'm Happy! You don't remember? I saved you!" he puffed his chest out heroically.

"I sort of remember… vaguely"

"Aye Floraly,"

"Hm? Oh, it's Auralie,"

"Ora… Oranie…"

"Aura-leee,"

"Auranee!"

"Leee,"

"Auralie!"

"Mmhm!"

"What a long name!" he said and put his paw on his head, "I'm gonna forget, I know it,"

"Just call me Aura then," she smiled.

"Aura… Aye!"

She sat up and looked around, this house was a mess. Dishes piled up in the sink, clothes and knick-knacks were strewn across the floor. Something smelled as well. But she shouldn't judge. After all, someone was kind enough to take her into their home. Who knows if she would've lasted the night in the rain?

"Does someone else live here?"

"Natsu!"

"Natsu… oh!" she clapped her hands together, "I remember!"

"Aye!" the cat came over and sat on her lap, "Hey Aura,"

"Hm?"

"You talk in your sleep. Do you get nightmares a lot?"

"Sometimes, I suppose,"

"Well you kept saying someone's name, who's William?"

"…" her heart faded out, and the terrible events she'd momentarily forgotten were upon her once more.

"Aura?" Happy peered up at her face, "Stop it! I'm sorry!" the cat scrambled and ran away. She pulled her knees to her chest and wiped away her tears. Not a day could go by that she wouldn't mourn them and feel the keen sting of their leave. She felt something light upon her knees.

"Take this, it's the best one!"

She looked up into the cat's tiny, determined face. He held out a fish to her. Was he serious? Their eyes locked for a moment, both a little confused. The side of her mouth pulled into a smile, Happy was sincere.

"Thank you," she took the fish, slime and all in her hands. He raised his own fish to his mouth, then stopped. She hadn't taken a bite yet, he raised her hand to her mouth.

"You know how to eat right?" he asked, she nodded, "Then eat!" she didn't want to be rude, she opened her mouth to take a bite. She'd never had raw fish with the scales and all. Even though she was terribly hungry, the thought made her queasy. The smell didn't make it any better, oh well, she'd just have to stomach it. She'd nearly taken a bite when the front door opened.

"Yo!"

Aura dropped the fish and realized it must look like she had gone through his fridge.

"Aye Natsu! Aura's awake!"

"Oh, you're finally up?" he turned to the side so he could see her past the pile of groceries.

"Yes, thank you for letting me sleep here," she gave the fish back to Happy, who'd already finished his and didn't think twice, "Please, let me help you with that," she stood to make her way towards him. She hadn't taken even one step when her muscles seized, she yelped in pain as her legs gave out. Natsu dropped the groceries and ran in an attempt to catch her, but she brought them both down in a rather un-graceful manner. She landed atop of his chest and felt the heat rise to her cheeks.

"I-I'm so sorry, I thought—"

"You must've really done a number on your legs if you can't even walk," he laughed, then sniffed, "Ugh, you stink," he pulled a sour face.

"I'm sorry!" she pushed herself off of him as fast as possible and crawled over to the groceries to pick them up. She frowned, the eggs had broken in their casing.

"No, not like you're a terrible person!" exclaimed Happy, "We just mean you smell really, really bad,"

Her face deepened in color as she continued to pick up the fallen items.

"Don't worry about it, I'll get this," Natsu said and took the things she'd gathered, "Why don't you clean yourself up, Happy will show you to the bath," he smiled painfully, no doubt to refrain from clutching his nose.

"Aura, you're really stinky," said Happy, "Come quick!" he jumped from the couch to her shoulder, then sniffed and fell dramatically to the floor.

"Happy," said Natsu.

"Aye sir!" he said as he got up and walked towards the hallway, "Follow me!"

 _For the love of…_ she thought as she began to _crawl_ after the cat. How much more embarrassment could she take?

"O-oi! Let me help you!" Natsu said as he remembered she couldn't walk and watched her crawl away pitifully.

"No! I've got this, really! Thank you though," she said, terrified of Natsu coming any closer lest he smelt what she dealt.

She caught up to Happy, who turned around and showed her the door to the bathroom. He gasped.

"What… you racist! Are you walking like that because I'm a cat?"

"What? No! My legs hurt!"

"I thought better of you, Floraly," he lifted his chin in the air and stomped away. Aura looked at the ground in defeat, _could their impression of me be any worse?_ She thought.

She sighed and crawled into the bathroom, which was as messy as the rest of the house, and shut the door behind her. She shed her clothes and threw them in the corner. She hadn't noticed the blood stains spattered over her dress until now and cringed.

Aura climbed into the bath with much difficulty, then turned it on. She endured the cold water for a few moments before the luxurious heat kicked in. The water felt nice on her wrecked body as she allowed herself to float. She wasted no time roughly scrubbing away the dirt and stains from the past couple of days. In the entire process she washed herself about four times over, to completely eliminate any lingering odors. But she wished the cleansing water could go more than skin deep. She lay in the bath, content even after she was done, she tried to relax and figure out what was next. The door flew open, interrupting her thoughts.

"Floraly! What's taking you so long?"

"Happy!" she immediately covered herself. He raised his hand to speak but fell to the ground.

"It's…so…terrible," he gasped rolling over, "The smell!"

"It's not me!"

"The culprit," he wheezed, "must be burned!" she looked at him strangely, but saw that his beady little eyes were fixated on her clothes. He crawled to the doorway and took a deep breath. He looked back at her and their eyes locked, she shook her head sternly.

"No," she pointed her finger at him sternly, to which he nodded yes, "No!"

"Wahh!"

"HAPPY! NO!" she yelled, "I need those!" but the little tyke ignored her and streaked across the room.

"No! No one deserves this kind of misery! Not even a racist like you!"

"Dangit Happy! Get back here right now!" she nearly chased after him, but her legs were too weak and not to mention naked. Surely, she'd never be able to look them in the eyes if that horror were added to her how-to-be-a-terrible guest list. How was she going to get out of this one? She allowed herself to soak a moment longer before she drained the tub.

She let her mind wander and thought about tedious things that seemed small to her now, she laughed at how silly they were. What to wear, if she'd have enough free time to paint after her chores were done… she'd been such a fool. _Siccari totaliter_ , she liked the way the words sounded as they drifted through her mind.

"Siccari totaliter," she said thoughtfully, wondering what it was or meant. She felt a familiar warmth within her chest as her entire body gently glowed momentarily. She was completely dry, surprised, she ran her hands through her hair. It was silky and smooth. Amazed, she tried again, "Siccari totaliter," but nothing happened, "Siccari totaliter!" nothing. How strange, she thought as she reached for a nearby towel.

She fumbled out of the tub, landing painfully on the ground. She struggled to sit up and made sure she was covered. A knock came at the door and she froze.

"…who is it?" she asked.

"Is everything ok?" it was Natsu.

"Yeah! Sorry if I worried you, I just fell,"

"Oh…" he lingered a few seconds to be sure she was ok, then turned to go.

"Wait, Natsu?"

"Yea?" he turned on his heel and came back.

"You uhm… didn't happen to see where Happy put my… clothes… did you?"

"Just a sec'," she heard his footsteps fade away and waited, "Well… the smell kinda drove him crazy and he burnt them,"

"Ah," they both sat in an awkward silence, was she just supposed to wear this towel? Natsu left again, when he came back he opened the door a crack and threw in some clothes.

"Here, you can borrow these for now, sorry if they don't fit," he grumbled the last part.

"T-thank you!" he'd given her a sleeveless black, gold trimmed waist coat along with white, knee length trousers. She inspected the waist coat and noticed there were no buttons or zippers to close it with. She looked around, hoping to find an old t-shirt… tank top… something! Her eyes settled on some surgical tape. I guess this will have to do, she thought as she wrapped up her chest.

She ran her fingers through her hair a couple of times and attempted in vain to look in the mirror above the sink. She could barely see the top of her head, she gave up and crawled back into the main room.

XXX

"Stop right there!" Happy flew down in front of Auralie, his hands held out to keep her from coming any closer. He waddled towards her and made an audible sniffing noise, "Hmm," he squinted at her, "I declare you… despite still being a racist… stink free!"

"Happy, I'm not a racist!" she insisted, her voice was much more pleasant to the ears now that she'd had time to rest.

"Then why do you CONTINUE to mock me!"

"Guys! Soup's ready!" Natsu interrupted. Auralie looked up at him in awe, humbled by his kindness. The heat rose unwanted to his cheeks when he noticed her stare, it was probably the first time he'd seen her fresh and clean, not to mention that she wore his clothes. She quickly tore her eyes away as she realized she'd gazed upon him a moment too long.

"Well don't just sit there, get over on the couch, I'll bring you a bowl," he said and looked away indifferently. She nodded and made her way to the couch, which she was sure smelled as vile as she did before, while Happy jumped on her back. She let him stay. She was right, the couch smelled disgusting.

"Delens," she said absent mindedly, the couch and blankets glowed softly and the smell disappeared. _Whoa… when did I learn—?_

"Wow! I didn't think you could cook Natsu!" Happy enthused.

"Tch, of course I can!"

"Well you never cook for me!"

"You like raw fish!"

"Yeah but what about desserts? You never cook for yourself either!"

"Shut up," Natsu said, thoroughly irked. She supposed Happy got on everyone's nerves, his nature was so candid it was bound to happen. He never seemed to notice though.

"Thank you," she said as Natsu came over and held out a bowl to her. Her mouth watered, it smelled delicious.

"Aye, Natsu! Why aren't you sitting at the table? You never let anyone eat on the couch!" said Happy. Aura looked at Natsu.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I can move!" she started.

"No! If you try to stand up you'll spill everywhere!"

"I can crawl?" she didn't like the thought of continually crawling around a strangers home, she felt like a creep.

"Tch, nah, you'd look ridiculous,"

"Aye," agreed Happy, "Natsu I'm eating my fish on the couch then,"

"Fine," said Natsu, sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

As they all started to eat, she hardly noticed their stares. She'd downed her meal in seconds. When she did notice, she bit the inside of her cheek and looked at them sheepishly, "I'm sorry about that… I just can't remember the last time I've had a meal so good,"

"All right! See Happy, I'm a good cook!"

"I bet you just bought canned soup,"

"Nuh-uh!" Natsu said proudly. Auralie laughed, enjoying their light quarrel.

"So, how did you get here Aura?" said Happy.

"I…" her mind wandered, searching for the appropriate answer, "I ran away from home,"

"Why?"

"Just some bad circumstances,"

"What circumstance?"

"Just… I needed to leave,"

"But why? Don't you have a fam—Ow! Natsu why'd you hit me? Aura help!" Happy ran into her side and looked up at her with pleading eyes. She pat his head, another little person used to do the same thing. Oh…

"N-Natsu, Happy. Someday I will pay you back the kindness that you've shown me so freely. And I will return your clothes as soon as I can find something else to wear. But I must leave now. Thank you for everything," they stared at her. She stared down at her empty bowl and put it on the side table, she felt selfish, like she'd taken advantage of their hospitality. But she needed to be alone. They'd taken care of her physically, to ask any more would be imposing.

She stood, with much difficulty. Her legs trembled even as she leaned for support on the couch's edge. She knew she was a hairs length away from falling over with each step. She reached the front door and couldn't bear to turn and meet their gazes. She opened the door and a cool breeze embraced her, brushing her hair behind her shoulders. She stepped outside, shutting the door behind her, and collapsed to the ground. She was sure they'd heard, and started to crawl away towards the town lights. Eventually she met with the bridge from the previous night. This shelter would be enough.

As she sat under the bridge, she let herself unfurl, not withholding anything. There was nothing to hide from herself. Thunder started to roll in as rain started to tick on the bridge above. The louder the storm grew the more she unraveled in a grand crescendo. At the storms peak the water came through the slats in the bridges walkway. She was soaked and cold again. But like the first time, the apathy she felt prevented her from discomfort.

XXX

They cringed as they heard her fall outside the door. Happy tried to aid her, but Natsu pulled him back.

"She needs time,"

"Aye,"

Sometime later, Natsu and Happy fell asleep in their beds. But their rest was anything but peaceful. Natsu awoke to the rumblings of thunder, how annoying, he thought. He kicked off his covers and rolled out of bed, being sure not to bother Happy and left.

Her scent lingered where she'd been in the halls, near the kitchen and draped over the sofa. Why did that idiot have to leave in the middle of a thunderstorm? He growled and walked over to the front door, throwing a blanket around his shoulders.

He strolled outside and smelled her scent, even though it'd rained. He followed it back to the bridge and found her slumped against the wall, frozen and cold. But she didn't seem to mind. The clothes he'd given her were soaked through.

"You crawled here, didn't you," she looked at him, not saying a word. But her golden eyes were tired and beaten, "I thought so," He knelt down beside her, "Take the vest off, it'll only make you colder," she complied, taking it off and ringing it out. Natsu took off his blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, attempting to dry her skin as much as possible so she could warm up. She looked at him, brow furrowed as he picked her up in his arms.

"I can stand," Her voice was wispy and thin, she tried to move her legs, but he held onto her tighter.

"Are you stupid?" he gave her a pointedly annoyed look.

"No I—"

"Just shut up,"

She relaxed, too weak to fight and let herself melt into his warmth. As ashamed and pathetic as she was, she was thankful. She tried to stay upright, not allowing herself to rest her head on his shoulder. Every comfort she sought from him in this moment would surely bury her deeper into his debt. That, and she knew he would be too kind to stop her, she couldn't impose on him like that. No matter how… sleepy… she became…

XXX

Auralie's eyes opened. Above her stood a very stern woman looking to be in her fifties. Her pink hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Her demeanor was very grim and business like.

"She's awake, Natsu. My work here is done,"

"Thanks, I owe ya one,"

"Right you do, you can repay me by never showing up on my door again!" she slammed the door behind her.

"Floraly!" Happy wailed, crashing into her neck and hugging her with all his little might, "We thought you were dead!" she consoled the cat, petting him reassuringly.

She sat up and rubbed her forehead while Happy slinked down into her lap, "What happened?" her voice was husky.

"When I brought you back you had a fever, it got really high and your body went into fits of seizures from malnourishment and exhaustion," Natsu explained coolly, "You shouldn't have gone outside in your condition, unless you're trying to make more work for me," he drummed his fingers on the counter.

"I'm sorry," she looked to Natsu, whom she'd been nothing but a hindrance to, "Forgive me, I have no way to pay for your troubles," she looked down in her lap. He looked at her incredulously.

"Payment? We don't need any pay—" Happy interrupted Natsu and grabbed her face with his paws.

"You have to go fishing with me," he said matter-of-factly.

"Ok," she smiled, "It's a promise,"

"Natsu did you hear that?" Happy sang, flying into the air.

"Yea, yea. Anyways, are you feeling any better?"

Aura placed the back of her hand on her forehead, then checked the status of her legs. They'd completely healed.

"Absolutely!" she stood up gleefully, Natsu ran over ready to catch her. He'd placed his hands on her shoulders, his chest inches away from her face. She looked up at him and they both blushed, "I'm alright," she smiled as he stepped back, "whoever that woman was, she's completely healed me… what was her name?" she inquired.

"That was Porlyusica. She's a hermit that lives in the woods and hates people,"

"Oh…"

"Well, now that you're all better, I guess you-"

"Yeah…" she said, feeling awkward.

"Do you know what you're going to do?"

"I'll try and find work I guess," she smiled sheepishly.

"Work," he seemed to be pondering something, "Oh! Are you a wizard?"

"I don't know, maybe,"

"What do you mean maybe? Can you use magic or not?"

"I uh… if I can it's a very new development," she looked at her hands.

"Well what can you do?"

"Clean?" she guessed.

"Clean? Honestly though,"

"Well, I suppose… I don't know, whatever it is, it's warm and light,"

"I've got it!" said Happy, raising his paw and dashing into the air, "Defend, Floraly!" he cried as he dive-bombed at her.

"Ah!" she tried to dodge but Happy rammed into her arm, "What the heck?" Natsu laughed while Happy was gearing up for round two, "No! Happy!" she ducked just in time and he hit the door.

"Owwy, Floraly!"

"It's Auralie!"

"Cat racist," Happy muttered.

"Oi, guys, I've got it! Let's experiment!" said Natsu.

"Aye!" chimed Happy.

 **XXX**

 **Soooo what'd you think?! I tried to make this chapter a little more humorous to establish Natsu and Happy's characters (: Also, just a disclaimer, in this story Natsu isn't as goofy/silly/slow-witted as in the actual anime. He's more stand-offish and cool. Anyways, did you enjoy? I hope so!**


	5. Inanis

**My deepest apologies, it's been nearly a month! I knew I'd be busy, but a month?! Gahh! Forgive me! Anyways, please enjoy the latest chapter (: hopefully it's length can make up for lost time.**

 **XXX**

 **VOID SOUL: INANIS**

 **XXX**

"Auralie!" something strong shook her shoulders.

"Aura!" something light hit her face.

"Auralie!"

"Aura!"

"Auralie!"

Low mumbling's and murmurs flittered through her lips as she came out of her daze and looked around. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the scent of pine. Two hazy figures sat before her.

"Where am I?" she grumbled, rubbing the blur from her eyes.

"You failed," said Happy.

"Failed?"

"Well we know you can't fly, are you sure you actually have any magic?" said Natsu. Auralie looked above her and saw where she'd torn through the canopy of the trees.

"I don't remember giving either of you permission to drop me from three thousand feet. And yes I'm sure, it's the only thing that could explain everything up till now," she was annoyed at them for being so reckless.

"Well, there's only one thing left on the agenda," said Natsu.

"I'd really prefer to be done for the day, if you don't mind," Auralie said running her hands through her hair, this brought a devilish smile to Natsu's lips.

"I don't think you have a choice," she looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "You see, you can't get back without us, we're in the middle of the biggest forest of Magnolia,"

"M-middle of the _forest_ …"

"If you want to get back, you'll have to find us first,"

"W-wait, let's not do anything rash here—" a large flame swallowed up Natsu and Happy, when it disappeared, they'd vanished. Hadn't they done enough? The entire day had been spent trying to squeeze magic out of her with tests: break the rock, dodge the mud, hit the target and (unbeknownst to her) fly.

The sun was starting to sink. She looked around, as far as she was concerned, all forests looked the same and therefore all were terrifying. Especially alone. She stood hastily before her courage left her and began to wander, listening intently. The lower the sun sank into the sky the bigger the pit in her stomach became. She was humming to herself when she heard twigs snapping in the not too far distance, her stomach flipped. Her feet didn't run like she wanted them to, her ears strained. Something, _something_ was definitely coming.

Afraid she'd be heard if she moved, yet afraid she'd be spotted if she stayed, she looked ahead, paralyzed. Whatever it was would soon be upon her. She forced herself to move, taking refuge behind a tree with her back pressed against it. She heard the snaps of twigs underfoot behind her. The steps were too heavy to be an animal. It wasn't just the footsteps that terrified her— the stench of something rotting, dead and cold crept closer.

It was nearly upon her, she shivered, _what if it finds me? I have nothing to protect myself with except my ridiculously elusive magic_. A single, frustrated tear fell down her cheek, she took staggering deep breaths to try and calm her nerves. The monster was only a couple of feet away, the closer it got, the colder the air became. As she exhaled white clouds floated in front of her face. She clamped her hand over her mouth and nose. It stopped and began to sniff.

Something dislodged from the tree and fell lightly on her head. _No!_ She gritted her teeth and forced herself to stay still. The hairs on her head tickled as something sifted through them. _Don't move, don't move, don't move, don't move!_ She clenched her eyes shut as what must have been an insect started to move towards her neck. A chill slithered down her spine. She couldn't take it anymore, she roughly swatted at her head with her free hand, momentarily caught up in a fight against the mini terror.

She stopped. Something lingered to the side of her face. She slowly turned her head, confrontation was inevitable. Four white eyes glowed dimly in the depths of a hood. Her breath caught as their eyes locked. _This is it_ , she thought. A low snarl ruptured the silence, she saw an abhorrence focus its eyes on her chest and she knew it meant to take her heart. She shakily pointed her finger at it.

"No," she said as sternly as could be managed.

It threw the rotting body bag it'd been carrying to the ground, upon impact the parcel crunched like snow under a boot. She rose to her feet with a fleeting courage and ran. If she was truly in the middle of the forest, she only needed to pick a direction and hope she'd eventually break into a clearing, right? The monster shrieked, she ran faster, but its feet only seemed to quicken in pace. That is, until she couldn't hear it running any longer. She looked behind her, it'd disappeared. She slowed down and stopped, listening.

Snaps and tears sounded alternately in all directions. _Please, don't let there be any others_ , she begged. Something loud sounded _above_ her, she looked up as something crashed down and two ghastly figures advanced on her either side.

"Stop!" she screamed, a deep, resonating velocity of power surged from within her, taking down the trees within her degree of vision. She panted, feeling quite drained. _Wait a minute,_ she looked before her and saw Natsu several feet in front of her, knocked out cold. Had he meant to surprise her?

She ran over to him, "Natsu," she shook his shoulders, he groaned, "Natsu!" she hissed hitting his cheek as lightly as possible in attempts to wake him. She looked around and saw the cloaked figures starting to rise, " _Natsu!_ " she slapped him hard.

"What!" he snapped at her, angry.

"We have to go," he just looked at her, " _Now_!" she said looking behind her, the monsters were getting up from their knees. She shook their haunting eyes from her mind, "Are you hurt?" He sat up to check himself and froze.

"Crap," he said, "Inanis,"

"What?"

"We gotta go," he leapt to his feet and started to run deeper into the forest. She quickly followed suit.

"Where's Happy?" she yelled above the wails of the Inanis.

"He went home, you suck at hide and go seek!" he yelled back.

"It's not like you gave me a choice!"

"Well I wasn't expecting it to go this badly! You're lucky I didn't ditch you too!"

"You—!" she bit her tongue. Her annoyance opened up a new well of energy she didn't know she had. She finally caught up with him, matching his pace so she didn't get lost. She cleared her mind so she could focus on the task at hand. Her fear would only slow her down.

An Inanis peeled out from a tree in front of her, its pale eyes looking to strike. There was no avoiding contact. She ran faster, throwing her elbow at its cloaked head and knocked it down. She shivered, it'd left a powdery residue on her arm that made her skin crawl.

"Don't touch them! They'll be able to track the scent they've left on you!"

"Too late!"

Natsu let out a frustrated groan, moving in complicated patterns through the brush. The shrieks were growing louder and closer. It had gotten so dark at this point that one of their biggest enemies were the roots they couldn't see on the forest floor. That is, until the Inanis started to submerge from the forest floor.

"Die, you soulless monsters!" said Natsu as he battled them with his flames, clearing a path, he looked back at her, "On your left!"

She turned just in time to see her attacker and dive out of the way. She picked herself back up and looked behind her, the Inanis had slithered towards her, its hand grasping her ankle. She let out a cry as a burning sensation spread throughout her leg. Her knee jerked out of reflex, but not before the Inanis had grabbed her other ankle, her balance was thrown off as her feet were yanked violently from beneath her. She grabbed desperately at the ground, _where are the roots now?_ She thought, crying out again, "Natsu!"

The forest lit up as flames engulfed her assailant, "Come on!" said Natsu, offering her his hand. Once she was on her feet the wails pushed them forwards, she limped faster than she'd run before out of desperation, "This way," Natsu said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her in a new direction.

They hurdled over the brush and came into a clearing. It was a dead end. A large river about a quarter of a mile in length cut off all further paths.

"We're dead," Auralie whispered, turning in terror as more than a couple Inanis broke through the brush line.

"Don't be so pessimistic," he jumped into the water, pulling her with him. He began to swim furiously towards the other bank, "Come on! Swim!" she snapped out of it and began to swim after him, too terrified to look back.

The water iced over her bones by the time she'd almost made it to the other side. She looked back and saw the Inanis stood watching them. Their terrible cries filled the night, _I'm sure they'll find a way to cross_ , she shivered. She made it to the bank, the mossy rivers bottom squished beneath her toes, she'd lost her shoes to the current. She stood there, dripping wet.

"We're rid of the Inanis for now. Mind explaining to me why so many of them were chasing us?" said Natsu, rather annoyed.

"I um, well I was looking for you and Happy. But then I heard something coming towards me, and its smell was just _awful_ ," she wrinkled her nose.

"Psh, I doubt it was as bad as you were when we found you," he started to laugh at his own joke.

"Oh come on, that's not fair, I'd been running all day,"

"Tch," he shrugged his shoulders, "Anyways, continue,"

She looked at him pointedly before continuing, "I hid behind a tree hoping it would just pass by. But it found me," she paused, "it had _four_ eyes, and it just stared at me for the longest time. But the weirdest part was when it looked at my chest, I felt like it wanted my heart,"

"How so?"

"Just knew," she nodded, "so I told it 'no'," he looked at her incredulously.

"What do you mean you told it 'no',"

"Well, I just told it 'no'," she said pointing her finger at Natsu as she had to the Inanis.

"Hah—!" Natsu started to walk over to her, "Well, how did that work out?"

"It didn't, really, the monster chased after me. I ran until you dropped out of the trees,"

"Yeah, and knocked me out, leveling a few of 'em,"

"Sorry about that," she said, "I don't know what happened," she bit her lip. Her hairs stood on end as the slightest breeze chilled her to the core. She closed her eyes momentarily as she crossed her arms and shivered. Something flared up softly and she looked up. Natsu held out a flame for her. Because he was holding it out she felt compelled to take it.

"Woah!" he said pulling his hand away, "It'll burn you if you get too close—speaking of which," He looked at her wrist, "What happened there?"

"Oh, this?" she held up her right hand, "It's um…" _think, think!_ She thought, desperately looking for an answer that wouldn't raise further questions, "I was making rice and the pot tipped over and spilled on my wrist, kind of boiled it," she laughed.

"Ah," he said, raising his eyebrows, "And there?"

"Where?" she said, hoping he hadn't noticed.

"On your neck,"

"Oh!" _how am I gonna get out of this one_? She thought, "I…I um…" _think!_ She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to come up with something.

"You're really terrible at lying," he said. She looked at him with a resigned silence, he shrugged his shoulders, "That's all right. As long as I can tell. But what about those? They from the Inanis?" he asked, looking at her feet.

"Yeah,"

"It's funny, I've never heard of them burning anyone before. I thought they just took souls, maybe you've been marked?" he said nonchalantly and walked away a few paces to find wood and scraps to make a fire. She joined him. Once they had a fire going they sat in silence.

"Hey, Natsu," she said absent mindedly, "why do you think it burned me?"

"Couldn't tell ya,"

"Hm," she pulled her knees up to her chest and lowered her right wrist. Though the shapes were different, the burns were identical in color. Using her fingertips, she gently felt the burnt skin. She immediately took her hand away and bit her lip, "Excuse me," she said, wandering over to the river bank where she submerged her feet for some time. After a while, Natsu came over.

"Come on," said Natsu, "that's enough resting," she nodded, standing up while he put out the fire… or ate the fire.

It was still dark out, but this time it was much easier to navigate. They travelled back in silence and were out of the forest within hours.

XXX

It was six in the morning and her body refused to go back to sleep. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, taking in the filth that surrounded her. Piles of dishes and trinkets lay strewn across the floor.

"Huh?" she looked down at her lap to see a blue cat stir from his sleep, she smiled, "Sorry Happy, go back to bed," she picked him up and stood, placing him gently back down on the couch, wrapping the blankets carefully around him.

Auralie smiled to herself, _what better way to start showing my gratitude than by making a few changes!_ She began to hum as she cleaned the little home. She started with the bathroom, then the hallway, then the kitchen and eventually worked her way into the main space. When she was finished, she took a deep breath, satisfied that she made their living space more… well, livable. There was only one place she had left to clean.

She made her way to the closet, singing softly with a lilting dance in her step. She'd reached the chorus, which was her favorite part, sometimes when she was scared she'd play it over in her mind. It was a lullaby her mother used to sing to her. Opening the closet, she decided to work top to bottom and went to pull out a medium sized postal box, standing on her tiptoes.

"Good morning," Natsu purred, his hot breath tickled her ear and the back of her neck.

"Eeek!" she turned, grabbing the closet door's handle and shut herself inside of it in a frenzy, the box fell and its contents spilled over her. Natsu opened the door, only able to make eye contact for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks and had a few choice words to say to him, but she stopped when she noticed all of the papers that had flown around her.

Natsu's laughter continued to fill the home, Happy was at his feet begging him to tell him what happened. She set the box down outside and began to pick up its contents one by one. Some were roughly drawn sketches, others were better put together. It soon became apparent to her that this collection was made over time; she would guess from age six or seven on. Her brow furrowed as she sifted through them as delicately as possible.

They were dragons. The sheer number of drawings of the same dragon were impressive and she knew she'd stumbled onto something important. But what perplexed her was that dragons were extinct, so why was he so attached? She traced a young sketch with her fingers, all the ones from the younger years were of a boy and a dragon. But the better the drawings got, the less the boy was drawn in, until eventually he disappeared.

"Natsu?"

"Hm? Oh–" he stopped laughing and hurried over to pick up the papers.

"I um," she swallowed, "I'm sorry if I've stumbled onto something personal," he didn't respond for a bit as he assessed the situation.

"What, personal? It's just a bunch of old drawings," his eyes were glued to the ground. She started to gather pictures as well and put them in a neat stack.

"Hey," she said.

"Hm,"

"What if we put them in order?" he looked up at her, she hoped her apologies showed through her smile.

"I don't know," he said.

"I think it would be kinda neat," she shrugged, "you know, to be able to see your progression as time went on," she looked down at two drawings from different artistic abilities, something about it made her smile. But her eyes softened, judging by his reaction these drawings were a source of pain rather than a sense of joy.

"Just put them in the box," he said gruffly. Her eyes never left the drawings even as she handed them over to him. When he'd closed the box he avoided eye contact.

"Why don't I make breakfast? Any requests?" she said getting up and dusting herself down.

"Fish pancakes!"

"You've got it!" she winked at Happy, "Natsu?"

"Eh," he thought about it, "Yeah fish pancakes'll do,"

"You're sure about that?"

"Aye," he said.

"Alrighty then," _these guys are weird_ , she thought heading over to the kitchen.

She'd cut the fish into chunks when she noticed a certain someone was starting to linger. Eventually he stopped being shy about it and sat next to the fish on the counter.

"You know Floraly," he said taking a fish chunk slyly, "I don't think Natsu likes fish pancakes,"

"I figured as much,"

"He's probably mad at you,"

"Ah,"

"Or upset,"

Auralie stopped mixing the batter and looked at the cat, "What do you want Happy?"

"Nothing, I'm just waiting for pancakes," he reached his little paw out towards the fish, she shooed him away before he could eat any more.

"You're going to spoil your breakfast! Go!"

"Aye sir!" he said flying away.

When he'd gone her shoulders slumped as she exhaled slowly, her stomach clenched uncomfortably. She remembered seeing a bag of chocolate chips around here somewhere.

By the time she finished she'd made two stacks a foot tall each, _this ought to cheer him up_.

"Natsu! Happy! Breakfast is ready!"

"Aye sire! Aye sir!" Happy flew down, "Flora—omnomnom—these are derishs, s'much fshh!"

"Glad you like them!" she smiled and looked around. _Where was he?_

"Oh! If you want Natshu he's in the backyard on a shtump," her back stiffened.

"I-I'm sure he didn't hear me,"

"No, he has excellent h—"

"I'm just gonna go check," she looked back at Happy before she left, "Don't touch those, they're not yours!" she said.

"Aye!"

His back was turned away from her, if he heard the door open and close he didn't show it. Was he really mad at her? She closed her eyes momentarily, clenching then unclenching her hands. She meant to be brave but her stomach betrayed her feelings, flipping nervously.

"Hey, breakfast is ready," she called. She waited a couple of seconds and walked closer, "Natsu?" he wasn't responsive to anything, maybe… "Of course, you're sleeping," she laughed, slightly relieved. She shook his shoulder lightly.

"Mmgh—uh, huh? Auralie, your fly is down," he said sleepily.

"What?" she looked down and felt the heat spread over her face, wait a minute, there was no—

"Bwahaha!" he laughed. She looked up at him perplexed.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah I just—oh, Auralie what're you doing here?"

"You were just talking to me, I came to tell you breakfast is ready,"

"Eh, I don't want fish pancakes,"

"Well then, it's a good thing I didn't make you fish pancakes. Come on," she said standing up.

A very satisfied Happy lay on the counter patting his distended belly. Auralie pulled up a chair across from Natsu.

"So, is there anything you could tell me about Inanis?"

"They're soul suckers,"

"But that Inanis wanted my heart," she said putting her hand over it protectively.

"Well, I don't know what to tell ya,"

"That's alright. So, do you know why they want people's souls?"

"Because they don't have one, they're just an empty void. I guess they're kind of like vamps" he said, postulating with his fork before shoving more pancake in his mouth, "Mmm, chocolate chip,"

"What do you mean they're like vampires?"

"Well vampires survive off of people's blood, Inanis survive off of souls,"

"Ah, how common are they? I'd never seen one before last night,"

"That was my first time too, I honestly thought they were just legends,"

"Huh… say, there isn't a library around here is there?"

"Yea, we'll go after breakfast. I've been meaning to show you to gramps anyways,"

"Excellent! I think it's wonderful that your grandpa has a library,"

"No he's not my grandpa, he's the guild master,"

"Oh, what guild are you in?" he looked at her, raised his eyebrows and pulled up his sleeve, showing his guild mark.

"Fairy Tail, and don't you forget it!"

XXX

As they entered the guild the sounds of laughter and talking filled her ears. There was also a more subtle warm scent of booze drifting through the air.

"Yo, Gramps!" Natsu called. Master Makarov was quite short. If he hadn't supersized his hand to smash a misbehaving guild member she wouldn't have noticed him.

"Ah, Natsu! Who's your friend?"

"Her names Auralie, she needs your help," with that Natsu left to join his guild mates, Happy stayed perched on her shoulder.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, I'm Master Makarov," she shook his hand.

"I'm Auralie, pleasure to meet you," she smiled. Master Makarov blushed.

"So, what can I do ya for?"

"Well, I was wondering if you had any texts on Inanis?" the mention of Inanis gave him pause.

"Indeed we do, but why concern yourself with such a monster?"

"Natsu and I were chased by them in the forest last night, I'd never seen one before,"

"I see… follow me," she followed the little man to the back and around the corner. It was then that it hit her, this was the tavern like building she'd passed on her way to the bridge! For a guild it sure was homey, she enjoyed its warmth.

"Here we are, feel free peruse at your leisure, and if you have a moment do stop by again sometime," he winked, she shuddered internally and thanked him. She wandered over to the shelves.

"Thanks for sticking with me Happy," she said to the cat still perched on her shoulder, "If you don't mind, would you help me look for a book that has Inanis in it?"

"Aye sir!"

The mahogany shelves were home to some of the oldest books she'd seen. Unable to wait, she picked one out at random and flipped through the pages, inhaling its rustic scent. Closing it, she stroked the spine where letters had been engraved.

"You're not going to get anywhere with _Romance: The Secret to his Heart_ , or do you have something else in mind?" said Natsu, leaning against the doorway, book in hand.

"What—no! I – this isn't about romance… it's about the culture of a people!" she put the book back in its place, flustered, "And I suppose you have a book that can help?" she said walking over, extending one hand.

"Actually I do," he said showing it to her, _Inanis: Folklore and Myths_ , "But—" he said withdrawing it from her reach, "I have a price,"

"You have a price?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Mmhm,"

"Name it,"

"I want the truth, no more lying," his eyes hardened.

"I'm sure there are other books," she turned away to continue to search.

"Actually there aren't. Inanis are rare, so there aren't very many texts on them, I have the one and only book on Inanis this library has in my hand," she turned back towards him.

"Three questions,"

"Oh?"

"You may ask me three questions, that's it,"

"Make it four, and you swear to tell the truth?"

"Fine, and you have my word," she extended her hand again for the book, but he still withheld it, "What's wrong?"

"Me first," he said, bouncing off the door and strolling over to a chair, "Have a seat," he said pulling it out for her to sit upon. _I don't like this, I don't like this at all_. She cleared her throat.

"So, shall we begin?"

"Question one: how on earth did you get here?"

"I ran away from home,"

"Uh-uh, I want details,"

She looked at him long and hard, "It's not worth it,"

"What isn't?"

"That book, I'll look elsewhere," she stood to leave.

"Wait, fine, I'll ask a different question,"

"Ok," she sat back down.

"Can I at least know how you got your burns?" after a while he rolled his eyes, "Look, I think it could help us figure out your powers _and_ why we were hunted down by Inanis,"

"That's fair, I suppose. I got them from my father," Natsu's eyebrows raised, she shook her head, "he wasn't himself, I just woke up one morning and… things were different,"

"Different how?"

"Is that your second question?"

"Aye,"

"It wasn't my father,"

"But you just told me—"

"What I meant is it wasn't my father, not really, it looked like him but… he was gone,"

"Do you think it was a Vulcan?"

"No," she laughed, "Vulcan's _like_ human females. No, it was more of a… I don't know. It wasn't his voice, it just wasn't him," she paused for a bit, maintaining her composure before she could lose it, "When I figured out it wasn't my father I tried to run away, you see? But before I had a clean break h—it grabbed me," she sat quietly, making the connection in her mind, "Actually... ok, so these burns are from my possessed father," she showed him her wrists and neck, then she brought up her foot, "And this is from the Inanis, aside from the different shapes it's the same deep purple. Do you think-" she paused, wondering if what she was about to say was plausible, "Do you think he was possessed by an Inanis?" Her mind started to race and she started to mumble, grabbing the book away from Natsu, "That means last night wasn't the first time they've chased me... souls... but I... no... that wasn't real,"

"Look," said Natsu taking the book back, "Whatever—possessed him must've reacted badly with something about you, same with the Inanis, did he also get burned by this?"

"I don't know, but it sure hurt him," she fell into silence.

"Here," he slid the book back over with a sigh.

"But you still have two more questions?"

"I'll save it for another day," he winked and stood up to leave, "But there's no getting out of the next questions I ask, you have to answer,"

"We'll see,"

He smiled, "Alright, I'm gonna head back out, see ya,"

"Bye," she turned to the book he gave her, eagerly flipping through the pages.

Hours passed, at one point a girl named Levy had come in and given her Gale-Force reading glasses to borrow. They talked for a while about the guild and Magnolia, but she had to go because she was leaving on a job.

Auralie had read the Inanis book four times over with the special glasses and there was nothing in it about burning or possessing anyone. Frustrated, she took to the shelves, using the glasses to quickly scan the spines and find what she was looking for. She found herself buried in mythology, legends, prophecies and the like well into the late afternoon. Happy came and went, Natsu never returned. After so long her eyes grew heavy with the information she'd absorbed, she rested her head on a stack of books and fell asleep instantly.

"Aura, Aura!" cried Happy. The room was dark, she stood up abruptly, knocking her chair over.

"Happy, what happened to the lights?" She searched the walls with her hands, looking for a switch. She felt a smooth plastic surface slide beneath her fingers, but when she flipped the switch nothing happened.

"Everything just went dark!"

She looked towards the windows and moved to draw up the heavy curtains. After tucking aside the right curtain her blood ran cold. A shadow fell over her, blocking out the light.

"H-Happy…"

"Y-yeah?"

"Is there—?"

"Aye,"

Her gaze rose to meet a set of dead eyes. It raised its hand and pressed it to the window, veins splinted throughout the glass. As it pressed harder she heard a tick, tick, tick. With one final push, a small shower of glass littered her feet as the Inanis began to force its way through the window. It hissed, bringing its other fist down like an anvil.

"Happy, run!" she turned and sprinted towards the door

"Hurry!" He shrieked.

"I'm trying!" she said, fumbling with the door.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark, nobbled hand reach out, grabbing her right wrist. She cried out as her flesh began to sizzle.

"Aura! Get away from it!" she could see Happy hovering above the book cases now, out of danger.

"Ahh!" she winced as the Inanis' grip tightened, "Happy, get out of here!"

"But—"

"Go!"

"I'll be back!" he said, he flew towards the broken window, dropping a book on the Inanis head. Seeing an opening, she threw a punch at its jaw with her free hand, but only succeeded in becoming more trapped.

It tightened its grip on both of her wrists, "Lissten to mee," it hissed.

"Let go!" she maneuvered her arms in attempts to escape. It laughed.

"So you can escape? No, I have something else in mind," letting go of her left hand, it withdrew its hood, revealing cataract eyes and a mouth with more rotating teeth than she could count. Its skin was translucent and scourged with veins blacker than the depths of the ocean.

"Who are you?" she trembled.

"The messenger,"

 **XXX**

 **:O mysteries, mysteries, mysteries.**

 **What's the message? Keep reading to find out :3 I really hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Calico

**Update: The title of the story has changed! Hopefully this doesn't throw anything or anybody off, but it's a better title with** **much more relevance to the story (not that The Giving Tree wasn't relevant). Also, again, sorry about the long wait between updates, I seriously wrote and re-wrote this chapter six or seven times. But I think I've finally come up with material that's worthy of my glorious reader's eyes! (: Anyways, please enjoy this next chapter.**

 **Also, for this chapter's purposes, 100 Jewels is equivalent to 1 US Dollar. 1,000 Jewels is equivalent to 10 US Dollars.**

 **XXX**

 **VOID SOUL: CALICO**

 **XXX**

The sun drowned in the sky, its light glinted off the glossy black key suspended from a chain between them. It was ancient in design with intricate curls at the end. The Inanis waited impatiently.

"Well?"

"I won't accept so easily, how do I know this isn't some sort of trap?"

"I'm asking you to save me, to save my people," its voice softened, "Please,"

Auralie shook her head, "Why,"

"We all were human once… I understand your wariness, until you've reached a decision, will you at least hold onto the key in the case you change your mind? I'm sure you'll make the right choice,"

"Your people tried to kill me," she said, still unsure.

"Forgive them, they didn't know what they were doing," the Inanis bowed its head, pondering, "It's quite unusual for such a vibrant soul to cross our paths, but I can assure you it won't happen again,"

"Speaking of souls, why did they want my heart?" she waited, but no answer came, "Fine, then why were there so many and why did their touch burn me?" nothing about this conversation sat well with her. The Inanis sighed, clearly frustrated by so many questions, "Also," she added, "Why'd you break through the window, don't you want to appear non-threatening?" The Inanis rubbed its forehead and let out an exasperated wheezy laugh.

"I knew it would be hard to convince you, but I suppose your questions can't be helped," its cloaks swished across the floor as it paced, "However, I don't have the liberty of idle chit-chat," her eyes wandered to the key it held.

"I will return again to give you the key at a later date," its cloaks swished again as it turned back towards Auralie, "lift up your hands," she looked at the Inanis doubtfully, but saw no harm in the action and did as it asked, "as a show of good faith…" it breathed on her scars, they disappeared before her eyes. She ran her hand over the previously scarred skin, then tentatively touched her neck. Smooth skin slid beneath her narrow fingers.

"How—" Auralie was thrown forwards as the door flew open behind her. She braced for uncomfortable impact, but hit the glass-littered ground instead of the Inanis. She gripped the table edge for support before pulling herself up. Her knees stung as she stood.

"Where is it?" Natsu burst in, fists aflame. Happy tagged along behind him. She looked around the room and saw the Inanis' black cape slither out the window.

"Running away," using her arm she catapulted over the table, her bare feet pounded across the floorboards and out the window.

The glass's sharp teeth left slits in her skin as she followed suit through the window and descended to the ground below. Gravel crunched beneath her feet as she looked for the Inanis. A dark shadow made its way up the street and her feet began to race as fast as her mind, she wanted answers.

"Yo, Auralie! Wait up!" called Natsu.

She ignored him and pressed on. The Inanis was faster than she was, and clearly had more endurance. Her lungs burned; sprinting wasn't really her thing. Her pace quickened on the pavement, she could hear Natsu catching up to her. She pressed onwards, going faster. The sun drooped lower in the sky, the air cold against her flushed cheeks and fresh cuts.

The Inanis only seemed to get further away. With each step the forest came closer into view, she knew if it reached the forest there was no way she'd get her answers.

Happy flew overhead, "Aura! Why are you chasing it?" he swooped lower beside her.

She didn't have the breath to answer. The Inanis disappeared behind the tree line. Seconds later she reached the edge of the forest where she saw it enter, her lungs felt scarred, "Kuso," she swore under her breath, her breathing heavy and uneven. She leaned against a tree, listening. Natsu caught up, panting heavily as well.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing?" he leant against the tree opposite her, "Are you insane?"

She closed her eyes, the adrenaline boiling beneath her skin, "I need answers,"

"Well, did you get them? I swear, if I ran all this way for _nothing_ ,"

"I'd be lying if I told you otherwise," she said, Natsu groaned in response. She began to walk forwards, into the forest. His hand gripped her arm firmly before she could take a second step and pulled her back.

"Stop. Seriously, what are you thinking?" he looked at her with hardened eyes.

"I told you, I need answers,"

"To what? What do you need to know so bad that you'll risk your life?"

"Lots of things,"

"Are you forgetting that we were running for our lives last night? What the hell am I supposed to think?"

"You didn't have to run after me,"

"When Happy found me he told me it was life or death, so yea, I did!" he ran his hands through his hair restlessly.

"Well," she found it hard to maintain an angry tone, "that's very sweet of you then, I guess," he looked at her strangely, "What?" she shrugged, "I can't argue with that," Natsu huffed loudly and rolled his eyes, taking a step back, "Are you ok?" her brow furrowed.

"Yea,"

"You're sure?"

"Of course," he turned around, brushing the grass from his clothing and spat in the grass, "I don't know about you, but I'm going home. Come on Happy," as he left he looked over his shoulder, "A storm's coming; I'd appreciate it if I didn't have to nurse you back to health again,"

The grass sighed into the wind as silence hung between them. Maybe he was waiting for a response, but she felt more like hiding in a hole. Her heart beat like a hammer as she bit her tongue. His dark eyes rested on her, all she could do was nod once. The leaves mingled in the grass were damp and stuck to her heavy feet while they headed back to town.

She dared a glance back at the forest once they'd reached the streetlights of Magnolia, but its darkness held nothing for her.

"Why'd you stop?" said Natsu.

"No reason," she turned to face them, "Why don't you guys go on ahead? I forgot something in the library so I'm going to head over to the guild,"

"Guild's closed,"

"But the window's not," she ran her hands through her hair, "Go ahead, I'll catch up with you later,"

"Do you need help?" Happy piped up.

"No, I've got it. Thank you though,"

Natsu looked at her inquisitively, "If you say so, just don't get yourself in any trouble, it's such a hassle," Auralie watched as they headed back. Once she was sure they were out of earshot, she started walking without any particular destination in mind.

XXX

"What did I expect to find here?" she thought out loud, her feet numb from walking on the cold, cobbled streets, "Why haven't I left?" _He must hate me_ , she thought.

Leaves crunched underfoot behind her, she turned sharply but saw no one. Maybe she shouldn't be wandering around unfamiliar streets alone. She rolled her eyes as more twigs snapped. She was sick of running away.

"Come out from where your hiding," no response, "Coward," she turned and headed towards the middle of the street, retracing her steps.

Her legs trembled, wanting to be done for the day, but she pushed on stubbornly. There were more strings tying her to this city than she wanted. The streets seemed smaller and she felt exceedingly less and less comfortable in her own skin. There was too much going on, too much happening too soon. Or maybe it wasn't too soon and she just needed to toughen up.

"What would mom do?" she wondered aloud, rubbing her temples. A tiny meow reached her ears, she turned, looking for the source of the sound. A calico kitten played to her left, battering a wet old newspaper, "What are you doing in the cold all alone, hm?" She walked over carefully, securing the kitten in her arms and picked up the soggy newspaper, sitting down and letting the kitten rest in her lap.

Her fingers began to turn as her eyes flicked over the pages, stopping at the 'Classifieds' section. One job caught her eye in particular.

 _ **Lost Kittens, HELP!**_

 _I accidentally left the door open and it seems_

 _My precious babies have run away,_

 _I am willing to pay 1,000 Jewels per kitten_

 _That is returned to me safely. I seem to have lost_

 _Quite a few of them, as I am missing all fifty six of_

 _My precious babies. Please help! Contact: Marnie Peebles_

 _Address: XXV Leavens Lane_

 _Magnolia, Earthland, VP102_

Her eyes widened as she set the paper aside and picked up the kitten, "It seems someone's been missing you," she smiled, touching noses, "I wonder where the rest of your litter is? It must be tough out on the streets," she pat his head and secured the kitten in her arms once again, standing up with newspaper in hand.

The clean slice of a blade being drawn out of its sheath was her only warning before it rested on her neck.

"Where is he?" the voice made the hairs on the back of her neck raise.

"W-who?" she said in a voice she hardly recognized.

"The man whose clothes you stole. Where is he? What did you do to him?" the voice was deep and commanding.

"I-I didn't steal them, he gave them to me,"

"Do _not_ lie to me," the blade pressed harder against her throat. Her mind raced as she struggled to explain, she hoped the truth would suffice.

"H-honestly, his cat burned my clothes s-so he gave me a spare of his,"

"Hmm," the stranger sheathed their sword. Auralie was too scared to turn around, "Explain," they said, walking around her.

"Th-They found me passed out under a bridge so they let me stay at their house, and when I took a bath the cat burst in and stole my clothes, then he burned them," she rambled.

"Why,"

"Well… they were stinky,"

"Hmm," Auralie saw a woman come into view, her eyes were dark and penetrating, her head crowned with scarlet tresses, "Ah, I remember you! You came into the guild with them! Ohoho, so you're the homeless woman they took pity on?"

"…I suppose," her stomach churned at the unpleasant truth, as if she hadn't been humbled sufficiently enough for one day.

"Well!" said the woman, suddenly cheerful, "I haven't done my extra good duty yet this month, you and your kitten will come and stay with me! I will not have Natsu beat me," she held her fist in the air confidently.

"N-no that's alright,"

"Nonsense! You'll freeze out here, come!" she pulled Auralie off the bench and headed in an unfamiliar direction.

"W-wait, who are you?"

"I am Erza, the strongest member of the Fairy Tail Guild! Rest assured you're safe in my hands. You are?"

"Auralie," part of her wanted to continue to detest, her pride said she wasn't a charity case, but lately the charity of others was all that kept her alive.

XXX

Auralie looked at herself in the mirror, not sure what to say.

"Well?" Erza's hands were on her hips as she tapped her foot impatiently on the carpet. She'd thrown her hair up in a bun and was in her nightgown.

Auralie fidgeted and tried to adjust the stiff armor.

"It's… very protective!" she smiled. Erza nodded to herself. The kitten rubbed up against her metal calves.

"Of course! Armor is my specialty," she nodded again in confidence, "Now we can get rid of this masculine clothing,"

"Yea," she agreed absentmindedly, "oh no… W-wait!" Auralie ran over to grab Natsu's clothing, but Erza withheld them from her.

"What's the problem? Let's burn them," Erza laughed as a dark look came over her face and she walked to the fireplace.

"No don't!" Auralie cried, but it was too late and her voice trailed off, "I promised to return those…"

"It's only fair since he burned your clothes,"

"Well, Happy burned my clothes, but I guess,"

"It's settled then! You will wear this tomorrow! And for tonight!" she walked over to the closet, picking up a rather skimpy nightgown, "We will match!" she held out the yellow garment to her. Auralie had to bite her tongue in order to not argue the choice of nightwear, but Erza had taken her in, a stranger. She would respect her decisions so long as they weren't too outrageous.

"Thank you, Erza," she said, "You're very kind,"

"Ahaha," Erza waved her compliment away with her hand, "Don't worry about it! Besides, I pride myself on my selflessness and helping of others,"

"Well, I greatly appreciate it," smiled Auralie.

"Of course, if you'll come with me I'll show you to the bathroom where you can wash before bed," Auralie followed her and gaped as the door swung open, she'd never known such luxury in her life. Erza interrupted her thoughts, "Once you're done, you will be sleeping on the couch; blankets and a pillow will be provided for your comfort. If you need anything feel free to ask, but I'll most likely be asleep by the time you're done," she placed a towel in Auralie's hands and left her alone.

Auralie walked in, the kitten at her heels, and closed the door behind her, taking in the luxurious room. She barely dared to move a speck of dust from its place. It was immaculate.

She drew the bath and took the remaining glass out of her knees while letting her stresses melt away, including the unpleasant way things were left with Natsu. Floral scents drifted lazily through the air as she washed her hair. Soon she was done and drained the tub, stepping out she squared up with her reflection and took a deep breath.

"Siccari Totaliter," the words felt strangely familiar on her lips. She watched in amazement as her entire body was dried, her brown hair silky smooth. _What language is this?_ She thought. As she pulled on the nightgown she tried to think of a language that fit the alien words.

The kitten meowed, standing on the countertop, "I almost forgot," she said, picking him up and giving him a quick sink bath. When he was all clean she dried him with her magic words and then let him drink his fill from the sinks tap water.

Auralie began to run her hands through her hair, looking in the mirror and brushing them in place. Her eyes wandered to the yellow nightgown she wore and a memory struck her. In her mind's eye, a little girl walked into town hand in hand with her mother, wearing a handmade, yellow dress. The little girl clutched a basket in her other hand, letting it swing as they walked. The summer air brushed past them as the grass tickled their feet. She looked up at her mother and beamed, the sunsets glow cast them both with a gentle appearance. Her mother squeezed her hand and smiled in return. Their eyes met.

 _Auralie, that clothing is so inappropriate!_ A familiar voice in her mind scolded, "Well, would you prefer I sleep naked at a strangers house instead?" she countered, y _ou wouldn't dare,_ said the voice. Her throat tightened as her voice softened, "I know mom, I'll change," a single tear lilted down her cheek as she whispered ever so quietly, "Goodnight, I love you,"

 **XXX**

 **All right, so I've already got the next chapter in the works, be excited! I'll be doing my best to update more frequently instead of just once a month, I'm working and doing school though so some update periods will be longer than others. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed (:**


	7. Leavens Lane

**Good day all of you beautiful people you! Here I am with another chapter! I hope you like it!**

 **XXX**

 **VOID SOUL: LEAVENS LANE**

 **XXX**

"Awaken!"

The loud voice boomed throughout the apartment. Auralie was ripped from her dreams with a jolt and fell off the couch, the kitten sprung awake and began running around the apartment.

"What's going on?" she looked from side to side tensely, "Erza, it's five in the morning!" she pulled the blankets around her and curled up on the sweet, sweet ground.

"Now is no time to be sleeping, we have work to do!" Erza ripped the blanket away, goosebumps rose all over her body as the morning chill washed over her.

"Five more minutes," she pleaded, Erza stood over her, dressed in a black tank and grey capris yoga pants. Auralie felt herself being lifted by the arm, "Alright, alright! I'm up! Jeeze, what did I sign up for?" she mumbled under her breath.

She got on her feet with more of Erza's help than was welcome. Straightening up, she cracked her back and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Looking around, she saw that the apartment had been tidied up and two mat's lay perfectly aligned in the middle of the room.

"Wonderful! You're already dressed for the day. You must've been so excited about the armor that you slept in it! Truly, you're dedicated to what is to come!"

"And what is that?" said Auralie, coughing to clear her throat of morning gunk.

"First, we welcome the day!" she walked over to the mat excitedly and motioned for Aura to take the one opposite of her, "Now," she said once Auralie was situated, "Do as I do,"

While Erza lead with perfect form, Auralie spent the half hour attempting intense yoga on the mats with little grace.

"Do you do this every morning?" Auralie asked.

"Yes. It focuses the mind, we will be meeting from now on every morning at 5:30 am. That should allow enough time for you to 'sleep in'," she air quoted.

"Oh? I uh, didn't know this was going to become a regular thing,"

"Of course! This is part of my extra good deed this month, I told you, I must beat Natsu," she said going into grasshopper's pose with ease.

The kitten ran around Auralie's feet and climbed on her legs while she also attempted grasshopper's pose. Her arms trembled as she tried to balance, she could feel her center of gravity preferred the floor to her arms as she started to tip forwards. Her chin headed for the ground and her arms gave out

"You need to focus, take things one breath at a time," said Erza, "You sound like a panting dog,"

Auralie nodded and attempted again, breathe in, she inhaled, breathe out, she exhaled, pushing up to her arms. Breathe in, ankle on the knee, breathe out, and balance the ankle atop the elbow while sticking the leg out...

"Kya!" she yelped as she fell.

"Again!" said Erza, coming down from grasshopper pose gracefully, a light sheen of sweat glistened over her face and arms, "Focus, listen to your body, find a place between your head and your heart where tranquility lies,"

She nodded, trying to clear her mind and breathed in deeply. Breathe out, she exhaled, pushing up to her arms. Breathe in, ankle on the knee, breathe out, and balance the ankle atop the elbow. She felt herself beginning to tip forwards again as she stuck out her leg, but a firm hand kept her steady.

"You must hold the position for five seconds in order for progression to happen. Let me know when you're ready,"

Auralie looked at Erza and nodded, trying to shift into a solid position she'd be able to hold, "Ready," she said.

"One, two, three, four, four and one quarter, four and two quarters," Aura could feel herself starting to tip forwards, "Four and three quarters…" Erza said and sat down, then looking at her wrist she fell silent.

Her forearms trembled and she could feel the vein in her forehead start to pulse. A cool drip of sweat fell down her nose and ticked onto the mat.

"Are you timing me?" she grunted, Erza pushed a finger to her lips, silencing her. Her lower back was starting to feel the pressure of holding her legs up and her arms started to loose balance, "Kya!" she crumpled to the mat and rolled onto her back, slowly extending her sore arms, they felt wired in place.

"Amazing!" Erza exclaimed, "you're five seconds past trainable!" she said holding her watch above Auralie so she could see her time. She could see where Erza had ticked off a certain time on the watch that said 'trainable'.

"Did I really make it for forty seconds?"

"Yes. You did eighty times better than I thought you would,"

"You thought I'd last half a second?" Aura let out a laugh.

"Of course," Erza looked again at her watch, "6:00 on the dot, come quickly!" she pulled Auralie up and out the door in one motion.

"Where are we going?" they ran down the stairs and out of the apartment, kitten in tow, "Erza?"

"It's time to run! Usually I do ten miles a morning but seeing as you're a beginner we'll do five!"

"What?!" Auralie looked over her shoulder and saw the kitten still following her.

"What are you doing? We can't stop!" Erza said running back to her and taking her arm, "Oh, I forgot about the kitten, you'll have to hold him while we run, come on!" she said pulling Auralie along.

The next five miles of her life were gruesome. The armor trapped heat in all the wrong places and she was sure there was going to have lots of chafing. She could feel warm bubbles on her feet where she was sure she'd get blisters. Fifty minutes later they finally made it back to the apartment.

After this, they got ready for the day as quickly as possible. Rather abruptly, Erza made an announcement.

"Now, we eat!" Auralie was pulled out the door again, kitten and newspaper in arm, while Erza lead the way down Magnolia's cobbled streets. Their breath trailed little white clouds behind them as a light blanket of snow fell over the city. Auralie shivered and rubbed her bare arms to keep somewhat warm.

Soon they arrived at a quaint coffee shop called The Cozy Cup. The vanilla aroma warmed their senses as they took their seat in a worn, leather booth. Auralie ordered eggs and toast, while Erza had ordered strawberry cheesecake.

"That's an interesting breakfast choice," she pointed at the cake.

"Not really," said Erza tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Auralie felt a little head nudge her elbow and lick her arm with its scratchy tongue.

"Hm," Auralie ripped up half of her toast in minuscule pieces, placing it on the mini plate that was beneath her cup and broke an egg yolk over it. She steered the kitten away from her plate and to his own mini breakfast.

Some couple of minutes passed, Auralie was only halfway through her meal when Erza pounded once on the table with another announcement, the kitten jumped into air while she nearly choked on her eggs.

"Now, we assess the situation!" said Erza bringing her hand to her chin thoughtfully. Auralie coughed, trying to simultaneously pet the kitten, letting him know everything was fine.

"Pardon?"

"First, what has caused you to be in a situation of needing to get on your feet?"

"I uhm, ran away from home." she could feel her face heating up.

"Why Magnolia?"

"Furthest I could go."

"Ah. So then I assume you have nothing to your name,"

"Nope." Auralie said softly, drinking from her empty cup to hide her face. Erza allowed the silence to stretch for a few more moments.

"If you were on death's door when Natsu found you, or so I've heard, then I assume the circumstances under which you fled from home were unfortunate. For that you have my deepest sympathies." She took another bite of her cake and chewed, then an idea seemed to pop into her head, "Is someone chasing you?"

"I don't know." Auralie pushed her plate away slightly and set down her fork. She wasn't sure she'd ever be comfortable talking about what happened conversationally.

"What about the Inanis? I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I heard you tell Master Makarov that you were chased,"

"Uhm, I don't… it's a strange kind of…they might—"

"It's alright, I can see your uncomfortable talking about it right now," said Erza. Auralie smiled and wished she'd noticed sooner.

"Let's focus on the most immediate problem," said Erza, "You need to find a job so you don't become a mooch; therefore, we will search for work!"

"I actually found a job in the paper," she brought the newspaper up to the table, spreading open the page where she'd found the Help ad.

"Ah, so that's why you have a cat,"

"Yes, and I figure if I find the other fifty-or-odd-some kittens that I can make up to 50,000 Jewel. It may not be enough for rent, but it's something," she smiled.

"I see, but what about after that?"

"I'm not sure," she thought, "I do have some magical abilities, but they're not fully fledged in the slightest. I thought I might be able to try out some requests on the board, but maybe it's not such a good idea," she rested her hand on her cheek.

"Maybe not, but how else will you get good?"

"I need to train somehow," she said, shrugging her shoulders, "I'm going to try and find a part time job so I can work on magic in my spare time,"

"I accept,"

"Accept what?"

"I will train you in everything I know!" stars shone in her eyes, "We will become an unstoppable team, defeating every villain that dares cross our path," her fists shook with excitement as she continued fantasizing, "We can even wear matching armor!—"

"Erza!"

"Yes?"

"I think you're getting a little carried away,"

"Do you… not want to train with me?"

"Oh, I…" Auralie looked at Erza, dressed in armor and clad in hope, "I'm sorry that's not what I meant, I… I just thought I could go to the address in the ad and return Mrs. Peebles kitten first,"

"Perfect! While you are returning the kittens I will head to the dojo and make preparations for training!"

"MmHm!" she smiled, what had she gotten herself into?

XXX

The sky was filled with fluffy cotton ball clouds that brought a light snow down over the town. Auralie walked down Leavens Lane, kitten in hand and newspaper clutched to her side. It had taken an hour, but she'd finally found the right street.

"Yo!"

That voice… Her morning had been so busy that she hadn't thought once about Natsu or Happy, she never went back to their home last night. She looked down at her armor, her _armor_.

"Aura where have you been! I thought you were deaaad!" Happy hugged her neck, "Wh-who is that?" he looked down at the kitten in her arms, "You've already replaced me!" Happy's eyes welled with tears.

"No, no Happy it's not like that," Auralie said patting his head, "He's just lost, I'm returning him to Mrs. Peebles,"

"You promise?" Happy sniffled.

"Yes, she's just a couple houses down— I think,"

"I take it you've been with Erza," said Natsu nonchalantly as he strolled next to her.

"Y-yeah,"

"What do you think?"

"She's very kind, and very straightforward," said Auralie, Natsu laughed.

"You've got that right. So, I see you've made a change in wardrobe,"

"MmHm," she could feel the heat start to raise to her cheeks.

"So then can I have my clothes back?"

"Uhm—" Auralie covered her face with the newspaper, pretending to read Mrs. Peebles address.

"Did you hear me?"

"Uhh…" she peered over the newspaper, but quickly hid again, Natsu stood with his hands in his pockets, "I think Mrs. Peebles house is this way," she turned around and began to walk quickly in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" Natsu walked after her. Auralie peered over her shoulder and went a little faster, burying her head in the newspaper. She heard his pace quicken, she peered over her shoulder again.

"Eeep!" he was right behind her, she strafed to her right and turned again in the opposite direction, walking faster. She could feel her face getting redder by the moment.

She peered over her shoulder again, but he wasn't there. The next moment it felt like she'd walked into a wall. She lowered the newspaper and peered up at Natsu. He grabbed her shoulders with his hands.

"What's with you?"

"I-it's n-nothing," she could feel the kitten squirming in her arms.

"And where are my clothes?"

"Th-they uhm," the kitten jumped to the ground and walked around them.

"Yea?"

"…may have been burnt,"

"What? How?"

"Nevermind how, i-it doesn't matter, I'm sorry, I'll pay for a replacement," she started to hide her face in the newspaper again.

"You and what job— would you quit it with the newspaper, why do you have it anyways?" he took it out of her hands and tossed it on the ground.

"I found an ad for someone who'd lost their kittens and," she looked at her arms, "… where's?" she looked around them, the kitten was nowhere in sight. She heard the sound of an engine in the distance and looked towards the street. The kitten had wandered into the gutter and was prancing towards the road.

Auralie left Natsu and ran towards the kitten, but her footsteps startled him and he ran further into the road. The vehicle was getting closer. She lunged towards the kitten, capturing him in her arms out of harm's way. But she wasn't so fortunate, and a knowing feeling sunk into her bones.

 **XXX**

 **This chapter was a little bit slower, but don't worry, it'll pick up soon (: the story is still in the beginning stages where characters are being introduced, and a little bit of danger of course (x**

 **The next chapter will be interesting (: I'm not exactly sure when it will be posted but I'd like to say two weeks! I know that's a long time but the more time I have to go over my work the better quality it is (:**

 **Soo, did you guys like this chapter? Or the story in general? Have any guesses as to what's gonna happen next?**

 **Until next time, see you lovely's later! ;D**


	8. Incubus

**Hello loves! Here's the most recent chapter (: fair warning, things get just a tad bit dark here.**

 **XXX**

 **VOID SOUL: INCUBUS**

 **XXX**

 _The streets were dusted with snow as they always were near the mountain. Two pairs of boots scuffed across the road going into town. Auralie nuzzled her nose into her scarf as she walked hand in hand with William. He waddled as fast as he could to match her pace, his breathing stuffy. Snot ran down to his lips which he licked incessantly._

" _Awwa,"_

" _Yea Will?"_

" _How many, how many snows are there?"_

" _Do you mean snowflakes?"_

" _Uhh, no, snows,"_

" _Like the stuff that's in the air?"_

" _No, snows! What are you sinking?" he opened his free hand in frustration. Auralie laughed, "Not funny!"_

" _Of course not. Well, you see there's so many snows that it's impossible to tell how many there— what are you doing?" her grip on his hand tightened as he pulled towards the nearest store._

 _Upon getting closer she saw a cardboard box outside, "You are so weird," she exhaled, Will always had a thing for boxes, he liked to collect them, put things inside them, stack them, anything he could think of. She let go of his hand and let him waddle on over._

 _Once he got closer he jump dropped to his knees and looked in, "Awwa! Come here!" he screeched._

" _Coming Will,"_

" _Huwwy! Come on!" he ran back to her and pulled her hand as hard as he could, Auralie slowed down purposefully._

" _But I feel so heavy," she said._

" _Fow cwaps sake," he struggled, "Come on!"_

" _What?" she laughed, "Where did you hear that?"_

" _Hmph," Will sat down in front of the box again, eyes fixated on its contents. As she looked in a warm smile spread across her lips. Half a dozen kittens nestled together, climbing over each other and mewing, "Can we have them?"_

" _Oh, Will I'm not sure, we have to ask Momma and Dada first,"_

" _But day have no home," he squeaked, reaching out to pet them, "Don't worry, I'll be your momma," he whispered._

" _I know sweetheart," she knelt on the back of her heels, "But if we take them now, and momma says no, then other people won't be able to take them home," she pondered for a few seconds, "How about we get them some food for the way back huh? And I'll leave my scarf so they can have a blanket,"_

" _Ok," he grumbled and stood up, holding out his hand, "Scawf please,"_

" _Yes Mr. Sassypants," she said, unwrapping her thick scarf. Cats were William's favorite animal because of their soft fur and innocent eyes._

" _Sdlkjflflkds, slkjfoiew!"_

" _What?"_

" _Heshjgkdodjk,"_

" _Will, I can't he—," the ground opened below his feet, he looked at her with wild eyes and shouted out as he fell through, "Will!" she lunged, reaching for his hand. The ground closed up before she could save him. She looked around frantically, turning around she watched as the shops started to fall into the earth._

" _Will!" she yelled as she scrambled to her feet. He'd disappeared. She picked up the box of kittens as pieces of the road started to fall away into darkness. She looked down at the box and screamed, dropping it. They were all dead, how long had they been dead?_

 _"Wolves," she muttered under her breath._

 _Turning on the ball of her foot she ran in the opposite direction, she had to tell them what was happening, they had to get of there._

 _She looked over her shoulder and saw the night sky open and run across the horizon, turning the day to night. She looked forwards again as she fell under its shadow._

" _How did I…?" tall trees stood around her dressed in black, moss drooped from their limbs like decaying flesh. She had to get home, something's not right, something's not right._

" _Dad!"_ _the word flew involuntarily from her mouth, causing startled birds to fly from their perch's. She ran. Jumbled words fell from her mouth without permission, some foreign, some familiar, both odd to the lips; the forest created a path for her. She trudged onwards, but it felt like she was sinking. She fought with the dense mud, it claimed her shoes with a loud suctioning noise. A line of bushes clustered before her._

" _Daddy!" someone shrieked in the distance._

" _Will?" She could feel the heavy weight of fear spreading through her body._

 _She struggled onwards and broke through the brush before her, finally able to walk normally. She started forwards into the clearing, tripping over a lump of fur. She pushed up to her arms, staring at the dirt below her. She got to her feet and saw she was alone, but it was too quiet. She looked behind her. Something large sat slumped over, silhouetted by the moonlight._

 _The wind blew fiercely, and she could hear chains rattling near the eclipsed beast. Then all was silent again._

" _Hhhhh," breath brushed the back of her neck._

 _She spun around, but nothing was there._

" _What did I do… to deserve this," she spun around again and saw the form had taken shape, "I'm just a simple being…" it chuckled darkly, "Don't look down now, I'll—"_

" _Fix it I swear," her father said. She turned around once more and saw him, knife in hand._

" _D-dad?" she stepped away._

" _Don't move! You'll mess up my work," his voice disjointed into two distinctly different voices. Auralie looked at her feet and saw the strange, archaic drawings. She looked back to the form where a Vulcan lay chained and slaughtered. She was at the center. Raising the knife, her father slit his hands._

" _Don't!" she yelled. But something dark clung to him. A pale, sickly hand reached out of from the darkness, removing the cloud that obscured its face. Its skin transparent white and scourged with vein's blacker than the ocean. Its empty eyes unnerved her as an evil smile cracked up into its cheeks and it began to twist her father's head._

" _Help," he whispered, slamming his hands down and completing the ritual._

"Dad!" her body lurched forwards, stiff hands held her back.

"Hold still, Natsu!" they barked.

"Yea,"

"Help me hold her down,"

 _The leaves in the forest shifted in the wind and she could still see her father through the light of the circle. The Inanis whispered in his ear._

" _Awwa?" William stepped timidly from behind a large boulder._

"Will?" _tendrils of roots rose from the ground, wrapping around her feet, making their way to her shoulders._

"Auralie! C'mon, wake up!" _more roots shot up from the ground, binding her arms, she fought against them; he was alive and he needed her now._

 _Her father yelled out in agony as the ritual started to take his arm. The Inanis whispered fervently in his ear, twisting his head in Will's direction._

" _Dada!" he shrieked, taking one step forwards, one step back, unsure._

"Go back!" _she tried to yell over the wind. Her father gripped the knife in his hand and made labored attempts to crawl to William._

" _Da...Da?"_

"NO!" she shrieked, pulling one arm free of the _vines that held her back_ , "Get away from him! Will run! Will—!"

"AURALIE!"

Light flooded her eyes as the scene rapidly changed around her, but had to close them momentarily as her head spun. Something stung, she looked down at her shoulder, brow furrowed, lips folded. Someone held her shoulders steady while a needle was embedded in her arm, attached to a syringe that was pushing something into her. Her eyes felt sore from the light and she squinted to see her surroundings, pushing out a tear.

"Where am I?" she whispered in a daze.

Her eyes ran the length of the arms keeping her steady to the blurry figure before her.

"Natsu?" his image came into focus as she gazed over his face, there were bags under his eyes, a line of blood dripped out the corner of his lip down to his tightly locked jaw. A variety of hues pricked to the surface of his skin just above the jaw and her fist throbbed. Her hand shook as she looked down at the discoloration on her knuckles. She looked up quickly, searching his eyes, "Did I hurt you?" another tear came loose and she felt it fall down to her chin. His eyes hardened and after a moment he shook his head, letting go of her.

"She's all yours Porlyusica," he stood up, letting go of her shoulders and ran a hand over his jaw.

"You're dumping her on me?" the woman's voice was harsh.

"I just need some time," his voice was low and rough, "C'mon Happy," the cat she hadn't noticed until now looked at her with sad eyes and turned to go with Natsu reluctantly. The door closed softly on their way out.

"I hate humans," said Porlyusica, "I live all the way out here to get away from them but they _still_ show up!" she huffed, moving around the room. Vials and potted plants were smattered here and there. _I'm in a hut?_ Auralie thought absentmindedly.

"What happened?" Auralie said, wiping tears she didn't remember crying from her cheeks. She swung her feet onto the floor to stand and stared at her lap, "And what am I wearing?" she wondered to herself.

"Sit—" Porlyusica commanded, "You're wearing a muumuu because I couldn't administer medicine with all that armor, though it did save your life. And you're one to ask questions. I've had to see you twice in one week, the sight of you is starting to disgust me,"

"I'm sorry," Auralie said, "But please, I… I need to know what happened, did I hurt him?"

"Hhh," Porlyusica folded her arms over her chest and came to stand in front of her, "You punched him in the face, I thought that was fairly obvious," Auralie let her gaze fall to her feet as her throat throbbed.

"But why?"

"The hell if I know," she said, throwing up her hands.

"Oh," Aura squeezed the hand that landed the blow and allowed the pain to spread through her tendons, "How did I get here?" she asked.

"You're telling me you don't remember running in front of a _car_?"

"I do. Is the – did the kitten—?"

"Yes, yes," Porlyusica waved away her question with the flick of a wrist, "That's seriously your—never mind, I forget I'm dealing with an illogical adolescent—" she muttered under her breath, "look, you've been in critical condition for a week; I had to keep you asleep another week on top of that so you wouldn't have the chance to undo my work as soon as you walked out the door,"

"I-I'm sorry, is there any way I could repay you?" Auralie asked timidly.

"Oh I don't know, how about you START TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF," Porlyusica snapped.

"Y-yes ma'am!" Aura twiddled her thumbs and stared at her lap.

"As for payment, one lock of hair should do it. You'll have to figure out how to repay Natsu on your own," an overwhelming feeling of anxiety sieged her, she owed Natsu big time. He was her saving grace and they both knew it. How on Earthland could she repay him?

"Yes ma'am," she said, "Do you have any scissors?"

"Yes, but I will cut the lock," Porlyusica went over to a side table and picked up a pair of sheers, then came to sit beside her on the twin sized bed, "I'll take the lock near the base of the neck where it's undamaged by the sun. Please lift your hair,"

Auralie did as she was told, gathering her thick hair and pulling it up in the manner you would a pony tail. Porlyusica let out a small gasp.

"What is it?" Auralie asked.

"Nothing, just holding in a sneeze,"

"Mm,"

XXX

Porlyusica had tucked her lock away into a curious black box and placed it in a cupboard with similar boxes. Her long robes swept along the floor as she hurried about.

"Is there anything I can help you with Miss?"

"Ha," she laughed, "I'm afraid you're a bit of a screw up dear. No, just sit there and wait for them to return,"

"I can leave now if you'd like,"

"So you can avoid awkward confrontation or so you can wander into trouble and be back on my door by morning?" she took out a book and laid it out on a table, "no thank you," she settled reading glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"I see," Aura said, she looked around the warm hut, hours had passed and she'd become desperately bored by the long laps of silence, "What book are you reading?"

"Vita et Mors, it's a language you wouldn't understand. Now let me read in peace,"

"Life and Death huh…" Auralie said absentmindedly. Porlyusica looked up from her book curiously.

"Quid agis?" she spoke slowly.

"I'm perfectly fine, you truly are an amazing healer. Why do you ask?"

"Surge super pedes tuos,"

"Uh, ok, do you need something?" Auralie asked, rising to her feet. Porlyusica just stared at her, "What is it?"

"When did you learn Latin?"

"Huh?"

"Did you not understand me? Quam discere Latin?"

"I…" when did she learn Latin? She checked out of their conversation as faded memories started to resurface. Nana Bunny, her late adopted grandmother from her childhood. Auralie was in her early teens when she passed, and her mother had made her stop seeing her, but she didn't remember why. A thought popped into her head and she blurted out, "Siccari totaliter!"

"That makes… zero sense,"

"But you understand it?"

"Yes, but again, it makes no sense,"

"What does it mean?" she clasped her hands together and came to the edge of the table. Porlyusica looked at her strangely.

"It means complete dry… does that mean something special to you?"

"Yes!" she beamed, "Oh, delens!" Porlyusica snickered.

"It either means erase or blotting—what's with you all of a sudden? Do I need to give you another shot?"

"N-no ma'am. Thank you ma'am!" she said pacing between the bed and the table, a smile plastered to her face.

"I don't like how happy you are, it's creepy, just sit down," said Porlyusica.

"Yes ma'am—oh, do you have any other books in Latin?" she added on shyly.

"No,"

"Oh, ok," she said lightheartedly and sat down on the edge of the bed, tracing the patterns on the muumuu she wore. Porlyusica sighed and stood, robes swishing behind her as she made her way to sit next to Auralie on the bed. She dropped the book in Aura's lap, "Ooph! It's heavier than I thought it'd be," she beamed.

"Open it, tell me how much you know,"

"Yes ma'am," she ran her fingers over the book, the leather had a surprisingly smooth feel, for such an old object. The pages fell open in her hand like they were begging to be read, and there was just a hint of foxing towards the edges of the pages. A faint musty scent touched her nostrils as she flipped through the pages, picking a spot at random, " _Lux et Tenebrae_ ," she read aloud, the room grew light but then fell into a complete darkness.

"Interesting… say lux, quickly now," Porlyusica instructed.

" _Lux_ ," the room lit up as Natsu and Happy suddenly appeared in the doorway, "Eep!" they both yelped and Auralie shut the book quickly.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," said Natsu.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"Nonsense, now take her away from here before I go insane," said Porlyusica, taking the book from Auralie and putting it back in its place.

"Right, let's go," said Natsu gruffly. Auralie nodded and stood, walking over to Natsu and Happy as they headed back out the door.

"Auralie," Porlyusica spoke as the door was about to shut.

"Yes ma'am,"

"You might want to take Ms. Scarlet's suit back to her," she said placing the armor in her arms, "And I think this goes without saying, but you should be careful about your choice of language,"

"Did you swear?" said Happy, lighting on Aura's shoulder.

"No, of course I didn't," she said to Happy, then returned her attention to Porlyusica, "Is there anything else ma'am?"

"No, now be gone," she said.

"Ma'am?"

"What,"

"I just wanted to let you to know I had a really nice—" her nose was two inches from the door when it was slammed in her face.

"Tch, I told you she didn't like people,"

"I'm sure she's lovely once you get to know her, she kind of reminds me of my Nana," a smile tugged at the corner of her lips before falling flat as she turned around, "How's your jaw?" she asked timidly, it took everything she had to not hide behind the armor.

"Mm?" he threw a glance in her direction, raising an eyebrow, "It's fine, and it was more of a slap than a punch,"

"No, it was definitely a—oomph!" Natsu clasped his hand over Happy's mouth.

"Are you sure?" she flexed her hand again, letting the pain well up.

"Does it look like I'm hurt?"

"No, it's just—"

"What, do you need proof?" he turned around, she felt the heat rise to her cheeks as the snow that crunched under his shoes brought him closer, "See anything?" he asked turning the cheek she'd stricken towards her. Erza's armor was slick and started to slip through her arms.

"N-no," she said clambering to get a grip. Natsu eyes flicked to the armor, then again to her face. A snow shed breeze sent goosebumps down her arms and legs as Natsu took off his scarf and wrapped it gently around her neck. She blushed under its warmth and familiar scent.

"Gimme that," he said, reaching out to take Erza's armor.

"But," she gripped the armor a little tighter.

"No but's. Now come on, let's get off Porlyusica's property before she chases us off with a broom."

"Mm," she agreed, his hand brushed her arm as he lifted the armor out of her grasp. Happy jumped off her shoulder and into her arms as they began the journey back.

XXX

There wasn't much talking as they walked, just a strange tension. Aura's feet were numb from being barefoot for so long in the snow and her teeth had started to chatter.

"It's been s-s-snowing a lot huh?" said Auralie, observing the blanket of snow over Magnolia.

"Aye!" said Happy, flying out of her arms and all too happy the silence had been broken, "The guild had a snow ball fight while you were out. Oh! And don't worry we returned the kitten to Mrs. Peebles for you! I can't wait till you—mmgh," Natsu clasped his hand over Happy's mouth.

"Happy," he warned. Aura smiled, she missed their banter.

"Natsu, Happy?"

"Yea?"—"Aye?" they said in unison.

"I just wanted to thank you, for everything," she said and knew her cheeks must be red, "t-to be completely honest, I'd probably have died long ago if it wasn't for your help," she folded her arms over her stomach. Natsu and Happy looked at each other.

"Yeah uh, don't mention it," Natsu said, the lightest shade of pink dusted his cheeks and he looked away. Happy flew back to her arms.

"Aye, Aura!" said Happy with a mischievous look in his eyes, "there's something we wanna show you, come on!"

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's a—"

"Happy!"

XXX

 **Whew, that was a long chapter! I hope everyone liked it (: I'm also hoping its length will make up for lost time (x tell me, was it a little too dark at the beginning? Anyways, have a lovely day/night and I'll try to update within the next couple weeks!**

 **~Atrevici out!~**


	9. Trailhead

XXX

VOID SOUL: TRAILHEAD

XXX

Though beautiful, the snow was cold and sharp as it stung their fingers and noses. Aura felt that the muumuu she wore did little to protect her from the cold, with each gust of wind it felt as if she had nothing on. The number she became the more she daydreamed about warm covers and fireplaces. She nuzzled her nose deeper into Natsu's scarf and shielded Happy from the wind the best she could in her arms.

"W-w-we're almost there," Happy chattered, "I t-think,"

"Happy, w-why d-d-don't you go under the scarf to k-keep warm?"

"Aye s-sir," he said as Auralie lifted him up. He crawled under the scarf, finding a spot to sit on her shoulder.

"Y-your paws are f-freezing," Auralie said under her breath while crossing her arms across her chest.

"We're taking a left here," Natsu said as he walked ahead.

Here they were again on Leaven's Lane. She wondered what they were doing there. Looking ahead she could see where they'd stood that day. Auralie imagined how things had panned out from Natsu's point of view and shuddered. They walked until they reached the third to last house on the street. The roof was laden with snow and frost nipped at the corners of the windows. Aura could see smoke coming from a chimney and a set of wooden stairs that led up to the top floor on the side of the house. Natsu turned and walked up to the green door. He raised his hand and knocked three times.

"Is this Mrs. Peebles house?" she asked.

"Yea,"

An unsettled feeling dwelled in her stomach. She couldn't imagine why they'd brought her here. She was afraid only awkward conversations lay in her immediate future. As she thought this, the green door opened and a little old woman stood there smiling. She was barely taller than the door handle, her hair pulled up in a loose bun. There was a bit of flour on her cheek that she must've tried to wash off. Her body was old, but her eyes shone young and seemed to light up when she saw their faces.

"Oh! Get inside quickly! Come on now, you'll catch a cold if you haven't already," she said, ushering them inside.

"Thanks Mrs. Peebles, but I really should be going, I've got to return this to a friend," Natsu said, gesturing to the armor he was holding.

"Oh of course, that's just fine. Auralie, do come in though," the old lady smiled, Auralie smiled back, assuming Natsu told Mrs. Peebles her name.

"See you later," Natsu said.

"Bye,"

She stepped inside hurriedly as Natsu left, wanting to get out of the wind. The home was cozy and welcoming. The walls were covered with so many picture frames and photos that she could hardly see the wallpaper behind them. A warm light filled the home and Auralie could smell zucchini bread baking in the oven. Her mouth started to water at the thought of such a delicious treat.

"Please sit," Mrs. Peebles said leading her into the living room, "you must be so cold, you poor thing," she shuffled quickly over to a chest and took out a large knitted blanket, "Well go on," she said gesturing to a large colonial couch that sat in front of a modest fireplace.

"I'm afraid I'm a bit wet from the snow, I wouldn't want to ruin your couch," Auralie said running a hand through her damp hair.

"Oh never mind that dear, what matters is that we get you nice an' warm," Mrs. Peebles smiled warmly, shuffling back to give Auralie the blanket she fished out of the chest.

"Yes ma'am," she said, accepting the blanket and throwing it around her shoulders.

"My name is Mrs. Peebles by the way, I'm so happy to meet you," she said extending her arm for a handshake, "I assume you're the one who saved my precious Mal!" she smiled and continued to shake Aura's hand.

"Y-y-yes ma'am," she said, her teeth still chattering.

"Wonderful! Did that young man tell you about what I said to him when he returned my kitten to me?"

"N-no ma'am," she said shaking her head slightly.

"I see," she said when something started ringing, "Oh dear. Here, follow me to the kitchen will you?" she took Aura's hand in her paper smooth one, "It's just this way," she added with a smile. Auralie felt Happy stir on her shoulder, she'd completely forgotten he was there.

"Where am I?" said the sleepy cat, poking his head over the scarf.

"We're in Mrs. Peebles home," Auralie said to Happy while Mrs. Peebles pulled her into the brick kitchen.

"Here we are, take a seat will you?" Mrs. Peebles gestured to the wooden barstools at the counter and went to take the bread from the oven.

"Is there anything I can help you with ma'am?" she asked.

"No dear, and none of this ma'am nonsense! It's Nana Peebles to you," she set the zucchini bread on the counter and then went to the fridge, bringing back butter and a knife, "now please make yourself at home, grab a slice!" she beamed, setting a flower brushed plate before her and a bread knife to cut with.

"Ohh~" Happy stared at the zucchini bread, nearly falling off Auralie's shoulder.

"You can have a slice too, Happy. Hop on down to the counter now," said Mrs. Peebles, sliding a small plate to him.

"Aye sir!" he said, hopping down and reaching for the knife.

"Whoa there Happy, I'll cut the bread," Auralie said, grabbing the bread knife away from Happy quickly, she cut them both a piece and talked with Mrs. Peebles as Happy ate hungrily. They talked about the town, Mrs. Peebles favorite parks, her kittens, and other pleasant things. Mrs. Peebles and her home had a way of blocking out the bad and revitalized the soul, Auralie found herself never wanting to leave.

"So Auralie, is it true that you've nowhere to go?"

"Mm-hm," she nodded, her cheeks heated up uncomfortably.

"Well," she said, clasping her hands together, "would you like to stay here? We have a lovely apartment upstairs that hasn't been touched in years," she beamed.

"I'd love to Nana Peebles, but I'm afraid I'd have no way of earning my keep until I find a job," she said looking down at her plate and circled her thumbs in her lap.

"Well, not a problem dear! I wouldn't accept it anyways. You see, we used to rent out the apartment to couples and singles and such. But not anymore, we just got tired, Grandpa Wash and I, and decided we didn't want to go through the work," Mrs. Peebles tucked strands of hair behind her ear, "we were going to hold the room for our Granddaughter Kaylee, she even sent some of her things over, but then she went off and eloped with some Dr. Tam, can you believe it? With not a moment's notice!" she threw her hands up in the air exasperated.

"That does seem rather odd," Auralie said.

"Yes, yes," the old woman said to herself and stood up from her chair, "help an old lady with the dishes, would you?"

"Of course!" Auralie hopped to her feet, and helped Nana Peebles clean the kitchen while Happy lay on the counter passed out with a distended belly.

When they were done Nana Peebles took her back into the living room and had her sit down on the couch, then left her to go get something. Auralie wrapped the blanket Nanna Peebles had given her tightly around herself as she sat in front of the fireplace. She closed her eyes briefly and let the raspy crackle of the fire surround her ears.

"Siccari Totaliter," she whispered now that she was alone and felt herself grow warm and light, whatever dampness she had left was gone. A couple of seconds later she heard the sound of Nana Peebles feet shuffling down the hallway and into the living room.

"Here we are," she said, putting a green box in her lap, "Go on, open it!" she smiled, taking a seat next to her. Auralie lifted the lid carefully and gasped.

"Is this for Kaylee? I can't—"

"Nonsense, nonsense!" she took a dress out of the box, "If she wanted it she wouldn't have eloped with that hooligan! Now come, I want to see what it looks like on," she said pulling Auralie into the hallway and pushing her into the bathroom, "Don't come out till your changed!" she said excitedly.

She changed quickly and carefully, setting the muumuu and Natsu's scarf on the counter and making sure not to stretch the fabric. Once she'd pulled the black dress over her head, she tucked and pulled until everything was where it should be. The sleeves were embroidered with gold lace and went down to her wrists, the waist was fitted and the neckline modestly high. The dress fell down just below her mid-thigh and twirled whenever she spun.

She picked Natsu's scarf up and carefully wrapped it around her neck. It didn't quite match with what she wore, but she felt closer to him when she put it on. She blushed at the idea and tried to shake it from her mind. A scarf was just a scarf. W _hat am I thinking?_ She reprimanded herself, tugging the scarf gently in place and grabbing the muumuu from the sink. A smile played on her lips as she walked out the door with Natsu's scent gently floating around her.

"Beautiful!" Nana exclaimed, "Now give me a twirl," Auralie smiled and spun once or twice, "Perfect, just perfect. Now if we could just find you some shoes," she said beckoning Aura to follow her back into the living room where she'd brought in a suitcase, "None of these clothes fit me, they were Kaylee's, but I'm giving them to you now so they don't take up so much of my storage," she said rummaging through the contents until she pulled out tights and black shoes, "Put these on, go now," she gave Auralie the items then hurried her back into the bathroom to put them on. Once she came back out her heels clicked on the wood floor.

"Did you steal those?" said Happy half asleep as he came wobbling into the hallway from the kitchen.

"Of course not,"

"Yaaw—" he lifted his paws skywards in a tired stretch, "It wouldn't surprise me, you are a racist so it's not a big leap," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"It's definitely a big leap… Are you feeling ok?" she asked as Happy swayed back and forth.

"Aye sir aye sir," he said, but Happy was still belly-heavy from all the bread and started to tip forwards. Aura caught him before his face hit the ground and cradled the woozy cat in her arms, "you should probably go easy on the zucchini bread next time, huh?" she thought out loud.

Auralie walked back into the living room where Nana Peebles sat with a brush in hand.

"Come sit so I can brush your hair dear," she said.

"Yes Nanna Peebles," Auralie said, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice. She sat in front of Nana Peebles as she began to brush. Her hair was extremely knotted, and it took everything she had to stay still and ignore the ripping at her skull. She saw a grandfather clock in the corner of the room, and felt that it kept time slower than most clocks. Happy squirmed in her arms, opening his eyes enough to squint at her.

"Aura why are you cr—," Auralie clamped her hand over his mouth, hoping Nanna Peebles didn't hear.

"There we are," Nanna Peebles said as she finished brushing out her bangs. Aura unclamped Happy's mouth and quickly wiped the corners of her eyes, she looked at Happy and brought a finger to her lips. The cat nodded and yawned, settling back down in her arms, "Now you look just like a doll," Nana said, content with her work.

"You're too kind," Auralie said, rising to her feet, Happy asleep again in her arms.

"Oh look at the cute kitty," she gushed, petting his head, "Nonsense, I'm sorry I've probably wasted a lot of your time," she laughed lightly, "So do you accept my offer to room here?" Auralie thought about it, and decided it would help her to move forwards. She would have somewhere to stay that didn't take advantage of anyone, she could look for work, and she could finally work on repaying Natsu and the others for their kindness.

"Mm-hm," she nodded and pulled her into a one-armed hug, "Thank you much Nanna, you've been so kind to me,"

"Hoho, don't worry about it, it's the least I could do," she said, hugging her back with the strength she could muster, "Now why don't you follow me and bring that bothersome suitcase with you? I can't wait to see what you think of the place," she smiled.

"Ok," she said and grabbed Kaylee's old things with one arm, still holding Happy in the other, to follow Mrs. Peebles out the door.

"It's just to the side here," she said stepping outside. Aura followed suit, closing the front door behind her. The sun set low in the distance, promising only a couple minutes more of sun. Happy shivered as the wind moved past his fur and chilled him to the core.

"Happy," Aura shook him gently, "Happy?"

"C-c-c-cold,"

"I thought so," she said gently, "Why don't you climb back under the scarf?"

"Aye sir," he said tiredly as she helped him onto her shoulder. Nana Peebles took the stairs one step at a time, stopping occasionally to catch her breath.

"Are you ok?" Auralie caught up to her, offering her arm for assistance.

"Well, I'm not as young and fit as I used to be," she laughed at her situation as she took another breather, gripping Aura's left arm in one hand and the railing in another, "Just a couple more steps. That's what I keep telling myself,"

"Nana you don't have to do this, I can just—"

"No, I'll make it just fine," she said, determined. Auralie nodded as they took on the following steps together. At the top of the staircase they reached a rose-pink door. Mrs. Peebles pulled out a key with shaky hands, handing it to Auralie, "Do the honors, would you?"

She opened the door quickly and ushered Nana inside to get her out of the cold, then pulled the suitcase through the door. Nana had turned on the light and waited for her reaction patiently.

A bare lightbulb hung in the middle of the room, casting their shadows behind them. The walls where a white brick that fell down to grey-brown wood flooring. A small fireplace was built into the wall across from the door, and a tufted couch covered in leather sat facing it. To the right there was a window, surrounded by empty floor to ceiling bookshelves, and to the left she saw a little kitchen.

"This is… wonderful," she said, lost in thought.

"And there's more! Let me show you your room, the bed's a little unconventional, but I think it'll do," Nanna Peebles grabbed her hand and showed her down a short hallway till they reached a door to the right, "Here we are," she said.

There was one other door in the room to the right that led to a humble bathroom. On the wall next to her left stood a tall armoire. A large window graced the wall opposite the door, where a bed was fixed sideways by a wooden enclosure that would create its own mini room if one were to close it off with a curtain.

"I love it," Auralie said, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

"Good, dear," Nanna said, squeezing her hand lightly, "I'll leave you be now, it's nearly my bed time," she laughed lightly, "I've provided enough food for you to get by for a week in the fridge and cupboards, and there's all the necessary toiletries in the bathroom to get you started till you find a job," she said, walking back into the apartment's living room.

"I can't thank you enough Nana, if there's ever anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask," Auralie said, following her to the door.

"All right dear, maybe I'll think of a chore or two," she laughed, "If you don't mind could you help me back down?"

Auralie nodded and helped Mrs. Peebles back down to her home. She then came back upstairs, locking the door behind her and breathed out.

"Happy," she said, reaching under the scarf to pull him out.

"Eh?"

"Guess what?" she smiled.

"What?" he yawned.

"I have an apartment!" she squealed, hugging the cat to her chest and skipping lightly back to her room so she didn't disturb Nana Peebles.

"Aura, you're making me wanna puke," said Happy half asleep with his paw over his mouth.

"Sorry, sorry," she said, settling him down on the bed and putting the covers over him. She took off Natsu's scarf and folded it neatly, setting it down on the bed as well. She went back out to the living room and brought Kaylee's deserted suitcase into the bedroom, looking for pajamas. She found a pair of matching pink silk pajamas pants and button up long sleeve shirt and took them to the bath. She did her nightly routine quickly after bathing, drying off with a spell, and folded the dress neatly, putting it into the suitcase.

"Night, Happy," she said, turning off the light and crawling into bed. It was slightly lumpy, probably from years of use, but it didn't matter. She smiled to herself, content, and lay on her back.

Light came in through the window as she stared at the ceiling, the back of her hand on her forehead. Her mind wouldn't go to sleep. Happy snored in a peaceful bundle under the covers at the end of the bed and Aura sat up. Leaning forwards carefully, she picked up Natsu's scarf from where it'd been left on the end of the bed. The scarf was smooth under her fingers and she wondered what it was made of.

For some reason, it made her feel safe. She unfolded it, and refolded it delicately, slightly embarrassed. He wouldn't mind if she slept with it on, would he? She unfolded it again, wrapping it loosely around her neck and laid back down. She didn't understand it, but she felt more at ease now, and felt herself being pulled under as a familiar scent filled her mind before slipping into a peaceful sleep.

XXX

Snow fell lightly around him as he went about his work, catching in his hair or melting in his eyelashes. He exhaled white clouds of steam as his breathing slowed while he concentrated. This work required precision, perfection. He thanked his years of drawing for his steady hand. The scent of burning wood reached his senses as he continued to burn a geometric vector symbol above her door.

Once he finished he moved the welcome mat and started again on the wooden floor below. _Better safe than sorry_ , he told himself. He told himself, but it didn't matter. He wasn't sure why he was nervous or why his body trembled, he'd done his research. This would hold up, this would work. Perhaps it was because of what he would lose if this failed. No matter how much he tried he couldn't shake the image out of his head.

He'd never wanted to go back there, not after what happened, but the mission specifically requested his set of skills, so he went. Save her, she'd said, save her. He had to take her in his arms, half alive and bleeding out, and leave them behind. It was because she'd helped him, she could've gotten away. It didn't matter that she didn't remember him from back then.

He was a monster. And every day she'd tried to escape he'd gotten in the way. It was his fault. Even so, she always came back. Even though she didn't remember him, or who he was, she tried to help. She brought him back, she saved him; his angel. And he'd left her, half alive to wake up alone.

Smoke rose from the symbol, but disappeared quickly as the snow fell. He drew lines connecting the two symbols. The mat flopped to the ground as he put it where it used to be. Taking a deep breath, he looked up to the roof and exhaled sharply before jumping up. The snow melted away beneath his feet as he walked carefully to the edges, looking for windows. He bent down over the rooftop, drawing the symbols above and below the window sills and connecting them with a line.

As he leant over the last window he worked meticulously, making sure every detail was exactly as it should be. Only then did he glance inside.

He gazed at her sleeping figure and felt something he didn't recognize. She was still wearing his scarf. It wasn't normal to wear a scarf to bed, was it? He shook his head, dismissing his thoughts and watched as her chest rose and fell softly; he found that its rhythm calmed him, and he could relax knowing she was still breathing.

Her hair had fallen across her face and he wanted to brush it aside so he could see her. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. Almost like a child, and Natsu had to wonder if somewhere in her heart there was a soft place he could stay. A soft blush rose to his cheeks. He shook his head again, he knew it wasn't possible, not after what he'd done. He couldn't forgive himself, and neither should she.

 **XXX**

 **Sorry that started out slow, but yayy! Aura finally caught a break! Thank you, Nana Peebles! Now she can get down to business ;D and what is Natsu talking about? I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out… Shout out to anyone who caught my vague Firefly references (; it's not an anime or manga but still ranks as one of my favorite shows of all time. YOU CAN'T TAKE THE SKY FROM ME! Ok ok, I'll stop. Also, a major shout out to Jalis,** **LucyDragneel2009, and** **mun3litKnight** **for reviewing and letting me know what they think. I love you guys!**

 **~Atrevici out!~**


	10. Discorded Hearts

**Long time no see, but I'm back! It's been months, I know, and I'm very sorry. I enrolled in a coding bootcamp so my time has been spent immersed in code. Now that it's over though I'll be splitting my time between coding and writing (my two biggest passions), so I hope to update every two weeks. Again, please forgive me for not writing at all these past couple of months** **I feel terrible. But once again I've worked super hard to try and bring you the best chapter I could, enjoy!**

XXX

VOID SOUL: DISCORDED HEARTS

XXX

A silky lock of hair fell across her face as the last remnants of a dream were chased away by the morning sun. Her mind was fuzzy, she was certain it was a nice dream she'd had, but the details faded the more she sought to remember them. With a mental sigh, she allowed her brain to focus and cautiously opened one eye. Sunlight filled the room, dust-motes floated lazily through the air, clinging to the rays. She pulled the duvet over her head to keep it out. But it wasn't going to work, her mind was awake.

Throwing the sheets off she tossed her legs over the side of the bed lazily. Happy groaned, not fond of the brisk air. She tucked the sheets around him then turned to rummage through the suitcase of clothes. She grabbed a black tennis skirt, tights and a white sweater, pulling them over her head and fitting them over her legs.

She'd just finished fitting the skirt around her hips when the smell of bacon curled under her nose.

"Hey, Happy…Happy," she whispered.

"Whattt," he said, squirming out from under the blankets.

"Do you smell bacon?" she whispered.

"Aye—!" Happy's ears flicked to attention, Auralie held a finger to her lips.

"Shh! That means someone else is here!" she whispered fervently, "It can't be Mrs. Peebles, she could barely make it up the stairs last night,"

"Oh…" Happy whispered back, "Well I can smell Natsu,"

"You might just be smelling his scarf," she said.

"Aye…"

Heavy footsteps started down the hall, Aura felt her stomach drop as she searched the room for any sort of weapon. She ran lightly to the bathroom, unless she wanted to wrap the intruder in a thin shower curtain or hit them with a bar of soap there was nothing for her there. Happy leapt onto her shoulder and hid behind her back, the steps thudded on the floorboards, stopping in front of their room. A black shadow lingered under the light of the door. Both of them held their breath, waiting for—

"What just happened?" Auralie stared blankly at her arms. Natsu was below her, she'd pinned him to the ground. But how—

"It's me. Damn Auralie, where did you learn to jump people so _gracefully_?"

"I… is this a joke?"

"Natsu!" Happy flew to his friends' side. Auralie sat, lost in thought. How did she get here?

"Glad to see ya Happy, hey, Auralie?"

"…hm?"

"Could you uhm…" he moved his arms for emphasis.

"Oh… sorry!" she released him quickly, snapping out of her daze and standing up. She put one foot behind the other, stopping once her back hit the door. Natsu sucked in a huge breath of air, letting out a laugh, he said something, but it sounded like everything was under water. _This must be wrong; this must be wrong because it can't be right…right? People don't just miss entire moments when… did we fight? I must've hit my head on something, yea, I must've—_

"Hellooo, earth to Auralie!" her cheeks were being smooshed as Natsu lightly shook her head from side to side, "It's time to wake up!"

"Huh? Oh yea, what's up?"

"Didn't you hear me?"

"uh-uh,"

"I made breakfast, jeeze, you're acting weird this morning,"

"Breakfastttt!" Happy ran to the kitchen.

"Come on!" he started to drag her into the kitchen but she threw his grip quickly and turned to face him, remembering something.

"Hey, Natsu,"

"Yea?" he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"How's your jaw?"

"Ah, that? It's fine, it doesn't hurt at all,"

"Right," she said, giving him a knowing look, "also, I wanted to thank you for this," she said, gesturing to the apartment, "I don't know what you spoke with Mrs. Peebles about but—"

"Stop,"

"Why?" her brow furrowed, slightly taken back.

"You don't need to thank me for anything,"

"Yes I do,"

"No, you don't,"

"But, you've done so much for me," she said, confused by the guilty look on his face, "how could I not thank you?" he looked uncomfortable, shrugging his shoulders.

"Just don't," he said. He looked defeated, defeated and tired, and it hurt. She stepped forward and hugged him.

"Is everything alright?" she asked. She felt a weakness in him give as his shoulders fell. His arms settled easily around her shoulders, pressing her gently closer.

"Yea," he lingered a moment longer with his chin resting on her head, letting a strand of her hair fall through his fingers before his eyes glazed over, "Now come on, I made breakfast!" he said suddenly guiding, but more like pushing, her by her shoulders out the door and into the kitchen.

Auralie got plates and utensils and went about setting up the table while Natsu brought the pan of food to the counter. She sat across from him as he dished eggs and bacon on her plate.

"Thank you," she said, still slightly confused.

"Don't mention it," he said, serving Happy's plate next.

"Oh!" Auralie had just realized she was still wearing Natsu's scarf, she took the scarf off her neck quickly and held it out to him, "Here, thanks for letting me borrow it yesterday"

"No problem," Natsu shrugged and took the scarf from her, wrapping it around his own neck, an awkward silence ensued, "there's something that I can't seem to figure out about you," he said after a while, sitting down to his own plate.

"And what would that be?"

"Do you have a death wish?" he asked, she laughed lightly, but then realized he was serious. The question caught her off guard, though she should have known it would come up. She took some time to compose her thoughts before starting to answer him cautiously.

"I understand you must be frustrated," she looked at him and got an eyebrow raised at her, "I've been behaving irresponsibly, endangering my own life and causing you nothing but trouble. Yet after everything that's happened you've been nothing but kind, and I can't begin to tell you how much I've appreciated that." She said, then realized she'd done nothing but thank him this morning, which he seemed to hate, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" she said quickly, "Look, I'll try to be as careful as I can, but I can't promise you I'll be safe. There are things I need to do, I hope you can understand,"

"Of course I can understand," he said, "But you still haven't answered my question; do you have a death wish?"

"Not a strong one," she joked lightly, then set about finishing her plate. She looked up again and realized he was still staring at her, "No, I don't have a death wish,"

"Great!" he said starting on his plate, "So whatcha got planned for the day huh?" he smiled.

"Uh," his strange mood swings kept throwing her off, "well I was going to walk around town and see if I could get a job somewhere,"

"Need help?" Happy piped up.

"No, I think I'll be fine. Thanks though," she smiled.

"Giving up on becoming a wizard?" Natsu asked.

"No, I just haven't decided if I want to join a guild yet. Besides, I can barely use magic,"

"Well you're definitely coming along the way you attacked me back there," he said.

"Yea, what exactly did happen back there? It all happened so fast," she lied.

"Hell if I know, everything went dark and the next thing I knew you had me pinned," _so that's what happened… I must've used tenebris. But why can't I remember it?_ She thought.

"Ah, yea that's what I thought, just wanted to hear you say it," she teased with a smile, then walked over to the sink and started to wash her dish.

"You don't actually think you could beat me in a fight do you?" he laughed.

"The score _is_ one to zero," she shrugged.

"You are pretty weak Natshu," Happy said, chomping on some bacon.

"You're one to talk," Natsu shot back.

"Hey," Happy said puffing out his chest, "Aura wouldn't have stood a chance if I hadn't helped,"

"Yea, whatever you say Happy," he smirked as he reached across the table and ruffled the fur on his head.

XXX

Snow pelted her face as the wind started to pick up. It'd even started to seep into her shoes, leaving her toes numb and cold. She felt like she'd been into every shop in Magnolia, but no one was hiring. Her shoulders sagged in a defeated sigh as she breathed out a little white cloud of humidity into the winter air.

"Hiro!" Aura looked behind her to see a woman call out as a little dog darted towards her, followed in tow by who she assumed was the woman's son. It tried to run between her legs, but Aura snatched the dog up quickly by the scruff of the neck like she used to when catching snow rabbits in the forest near her home.

"Is this your—oof!" she fell down into the snow, dog in her arms as the little boy crashed into her.

"S-sorry ma'am!" he said clambering up.

"Are you alright?" someone asked, taking her arm to help her up.

"I'm fine, thank you," she smiled and dusted herself off, noticing the stranger's hair was white as snow.

"No problem," he grinned, then continued to walk on his way, the tails of his coat catching on the wind.

"Oh dear," said the boy's mother, finally catching up, "I'm so sorry about that ma'am,"

"It's alright, is this your dog?" the dog squirmed in her arms, trying to get free.

"Yes, yes. Thank you so much," she said, taking the dog out of Aura's arms

"No problem," another gust of wind came, blowing her hair into her face, she tried her best to keep it away from her mouth as she spoke, "have a nice night!"

A halfhearted wave, a turn on the heel, and she was back on the hunt. But the day turned out to be fruitless.

On her way home she ran into Erza, who nearly tackled her to the ground in a bear hug after telling her she missed her and made her promise to start training again. Aura agreed and they parted ways.

As the week carried on it seemed the more she saw Erza the less she saw Natsu, until she stopped seeing him completely. When their paths crossed, he was in a hurry. His eyes never met hers for longer than needed as he quickly made a swift exit. She'd even started to go to the guild with Erza more often, but to no avail. While her friendship's with the people of Fairy Tail grew, her friendship with Natsu dwindled, and she had no idea why.

So she filled her time by searching for jobs. And thus the rest of the week went.

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Nothing

As Monday started to come to a close, her hope deserted her. The sun pried the last of its amber limbs over the rooftops, the sky stained pink. Just one more shop and she'd go home.

The bell chimed softly as she walked into Ma and Pa's Paint Pot. It smelled like fresh paint and paper, the walls were white and fell down to a dark floor smattered with various rugs. Aura's eyes were drawn to the stacks of canvas' that varied in size. She traced the supplies with her fingers as she walked slowly down an aisle, stopping at the brushes. They had everything she could've needed, now all she needed was money.

"Welcome to Ma and Pa's Paint Pot, can I assist you with anything today Miss?"

"Yes, actually I was wondering—" she turned and saw the boy with white hair that had helped her up the other day, his eyes were smoke and raven's wings, "Hey," she smiled, "Aren't you the one that helped me up the other day?" he stared at her until she saw the recognition in his face.

"Suppose I am, what brings you here?" he said, a half smile tugging on his lips, leaning against the shelves. He wore a long sleeve white button down shirt with slacks and a painters' apron.

"Well, I was wondering if there were any job openings, would you know anything about that?"

"Follow me," he said bouncing off the shelves lightly. She followed him to the counter, where he fished for some papers, "Fill these out, and let me know when you're done," she noticed he wore black gloves as he pushed the papers towards her.

"Thank you," she said, filling them out as neatly as she could. When she was done she went to find him again, "Here you go!"

"Thanks, come in tomorrow for an interview around noon,"

"Alright," she smiled, then paused, "Wait, I just realized, I don't know your name?"

"Xen,"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Auralie,"

As she left the store her smile fell. She would go to the interview; just like she'd gone to all the other interviews.

The snow exploded in nice little puffs as she lightly kicked it while she walked. Her stomach growled loudly, the food Mrs. Peebles had given her was almost gone. Her eyelids closed and she thought of home.

The fireplace was always going by the time she'd brought home her catch, and her mother would always rush to her side to lift the weight she carried. Will would be somewhere, playing with his boxes, and her father… she couldn't remember much of him. Only some memories here and there, they were all pleasant though.

She sighed, peaking up at the sky, was it wrong that she felt numb? The first week following what happened she was an emotional wreck. Now she couldn't muster up a single tear. She felt herself getting increasingly distant the more the world lost its color. She wished with all her heart that she could be strong. But she was just so tired.

With every step she took up the stairs to her apartment she felt heavier. Her slightly numb fingers fumbled with the key in the lock. She worked the door open and let out a sigh of relief as she took off her shoes and let the apartment's warmth revitalize her.

Her stomach growled loudly again, she looked to the kitchen, but a wave of tiredness pulled more in favor of going to bed. Stumbling down the hallway she was ready to collapse, she opened the bedroom door and stepped inside. Lingering near the suitcase she wondered if she had the strength to change into her pj's, and decided against it.

Drawing closer to the bed, her heart jumped, not having the strength to let out a yelp. She hadn't expected to see Happy laying there peacefully, his tiny chest rising and falling, every breath of air the depth of his oblivion.

"You scared me," she said under her breath, climbing into bed. She tossed and turned, finding it hard to turn off her mind, and eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

XXX

 _She had one hand over her mouth, the other rigidly clutching the blue of her dress. Her eyelids shut so tightly they began to fidget and shudder from the violent force as her lungs struggled not to collapse; crying silent tears that ran past her hollow, pale cheeks and over her knuckles until finally dripping onto the floor with as much of a sound as the woman's hushed agony._

 _The woman gasped for air, crying out as she fell to her knees. Her weathered hands trembled, trying to free the boy as she cried. Natsu just stood there, the girl he owed his life to, lifeless in his arms._

"No," he gritted his teeth and punched the trunk of a tree.

 _The woman ripped the roots away and cradled the boy to her bosom, his blood staining her shirt. Her eyes shut tight, whispering fervently for his return as she rocked back and forth._

 _All he could do was watch as she reached out to him and whispered 'please'. He knew she hoped. And brought his savior to her outstretched arms. The woman's face crumpled, trying feebly to brush the girl's hair out of her face._

 _The woman looked up at him, her eyes starless skies where all the hope seemed galaxies away. He could offer her no comfort, and she seemed to understand that. Her eyes closed again as she rocked her children back and forth, trying to get back to that place when they were all together._

" _I'm home darlings. Please, please, don't leave me," she rocked. Natsu stood there, empty, as she rocked, and rocked, and rocked._

"No," he punched the tree harder, drawing blood from his knuckles.

 _A time later his body was able to move again, turning on his heel to head back to wherever he came from. But a whisper caught his ear._

" _I will never forget the moment your hearts stopped and mine kept beating," he looked over his shoulder as she whispered, "mutatione vitae, signa…" her head sunk, "culum"_

 _Natsu watched as the woman's body gave in, slumped over her children. His stomach churned, he felt so useless. He looked forward again, he was getting the hell out of this town. But a soft gasp held him fast. He turned again, this time his entire body moved and his feet ran._

"Damnit!" he raged, knocking the tree down to its roots, "You were alive, you…both were alive,"

 **XXX**

 **Oh ho ho, there was lots of foreshadowing in this chapter :3 until next time!**

 **~Atrevici out!~**


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